The  Road 
Toward  Peace 

ty 

CHARLES  W.  ELIOT 


f,X  LIBRjs 


C&arles  W.  ©Uot 


THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE. 
UNIVERSITY  ADMINISTRATION. 
CHARLES  ELIOT,   LANDSCAPE  ARCHITECT. 
HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 

BOSTON   AND   NBW   YORK 


THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 


THE  ROAD  TOWARD 
PEACE 

A  CONTRIBUTION  TO  THE  STUDY  OP 

THE  CAUSES  OF  THE  EUROPEAN  WAR 

AND  OF  THE  MEANS  OF  PREVENTING 

WAR  IN  THE  FUTURE 

BY 

CHARLES   W.  ELIOT 


BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK 
HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 


D 
5*3 

a 


COPYRIGHT,   1915,  BY  CHARLES  W.  ELIOT 
ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 

Published  April  igiy 


PREFACE 

FOR  more  than  eight  years  past  my  mind  has 
turned  from  time  to  time  to  the  study  of  the 
causes  of  war,  and  of  the  means  of  preventing 
war.  The  first  time  I  discussed  in  public  the 
means  of  preventing  war  was  at  a  meeting  of 
the  Canadian  Club  of  Ottawa,  on  the  23d  of 
February,  1907.  The  speech  I  made  there  is 
the  first  chapter  in  the  present  volume.  In  May 
of  the  same  year,  I  took  part  in  the  discussions 
at  the  Lake  Mohonk  Conference  on  Interna- 
tional Arbitration ;  and  two  short  speeches 
which  I  made  then  form  the  second  chapter  of 
this  volume.  At  the  Lake  Mohonk  Conference 
of  1910,  I  read  a  paper  on  "  The  Fears  which 
cause  Increasing  Armaments,"  which  appears 
here  as  the  third  chapter.  In  1911-12,  I  went 
round  the  world  as  an  envoy  of  the  Trustees 
of  the  Carnegie  Endowment  for  International 
Peace  to  "  procure  material  for  a  Report  to  the 
Trustees,  through  the  Division  of  Intercourse 
and  Education,  as  to  what  activities  may  wisely 
and  helpfully  be  planned  in  and  for  the  Asiatic 
countries,  that  will  advance  the  cause  of  peace 


VI  PREFACE 

and  international  good-will."  In  the  summer  of 
1913, 1  presented  to  the  Trustees  a  rather  full 
Report  of  my  observations  and  reflections,  ac- 
companied by  a  considerable  number  of  sup- 
porting documents.  Selected  pages  from  that 
Report  constitute  the  fourth  chapter.  The  next 
three  chapters  consist  each  of  a  letter  on  the 
War  written  to  the  New  York  Times.  Chapter 
VIII  is  an  address  to  the  Business  Women's 
Club  of  Boston  on  "  America's  Duty  in  Regard 
to  the  European  War."  The  ninth  chapter  is 
a  letter  to  the  New  York  Times  on  "The 
Sources  and  the  Outcome  of  the  War."  Be- 
tween November  24  and  December  14,  I  ex- 
changed letters  with  my  friend  Mr.  Jacob  H. 
Schiff,  the  eminent  financier,  each  of  us  writ- 
ing four  letters,  and  neither  of  us  having  any 
thought  of  publishing  our  letters.  But,  after 
three  weeks  of  correspondence,  it  seemed  to 
both  of  us  that  the  publication  of  the  letters 
might  do  some  good.  This  correspondence  ap- 
pears in  the  tenth  chapter.  A  fifth  letter  to  the 
New  York  Times  makes  the  eleventh  chapter. 
I  have  included  in  the  volume  as  the  twelfth 
chapter,  an  address  on  Forefathers'  Day,  1914, 
before  the  New  England  Society  in  the  City  of 
New  York;  because  the  Pilgrim  ideals,  spread 


PREFACE  vn 

across  the  American  Continent,  account  in  large 
measure  for  the  wide  difference  to-day  between 
the  national  ideals  of  Germany  and  those  of 
the  United  States.  The  thirteenth  chapter  of 
the  book  contains  an  address  given  on  the  15th 
of  January,  1915,  before  the  Harvard  Club  of 
Boston  on  "  National  Efficiency  best  developed 
under  Free  Governments,"  but  later  revised 
and  enlarged.  The  huge  war  in  Europe  is  going 
to  put  to  a  supreme  test  this  theory  concerning 
the  surest  sources  of  national  efficiency.  The 
last  chapter  consists  of  a  letter  to  the  New  York 
Times  in  which  I  endeavored  to  describe  the 
lessons  concerning  international  relations  which 
the  war  had  taught  convincingly  down  to  the 
9th  of  March,  1915.  The  chapters  follow  the 
chronological  order. 

In  an  appendix  I  have  placed  two  addresses 
I  made  on  the  6th  of  March,  1902,  on  the  oc- 
casion of  the  visit  of  Prince  Henry  of  Prussia 
to  Cambridge  and  Boston. 

CHARLES  W.  ELIOT. 

CAMBRIDGE,  MASS., 
15  March,  1915. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  I 

THE  COMPETITIVE  ARMING  OF  THE  NATIONS  —  A 
WAY  OF  ESCAPE 1 

CHAPTER  H 

Is  FORCE  THE  RIGHTFUL  RULER?  —  INTERNATIONAL 
PLANS  MUST  PRECEDE  INTERNATIONAL  ACTION  .  10 

Force  has  ceased  to  be  the  main  reliance  in  school  and 
home  discipline  —  Prescription  is  a  diminishing  ele- 
ment in  college  discipline  —  The  supreme  object  in  edu- 
cation is  to  acquire  self -control  —  In  government,  pro- 
tective force,  which  keeps  peace,  preserves  order,  and 
brings  help,  will  always  be  necessary — Free  governments 
use  little  force  and  that  a  police  force  —  Reduction  of  ar- 
maments is  impossible  until  there  exists  an  Interna- 
tional Court  and  a  force  behind  the  Court. 

CHAPTER  m 

THE  FEARS  WHICH  CAUSE  THE  INCREASING  ARMA- 
MENTS   17 

The  cutting-off  of  over-seas  supplies  of  food  and  raw 
materials  —  Sudden  invasion  —  The  remedies,  immun- 
ity for  private  property  at  sea  and  a  Supreme  Court  with 
a  force  behind  it. 

CHAPTER  IV 

PRESENT  AND  FUTURE  CAUSES  OF  WAR,  ESPECI- 
ALLY IN  THE  ORIENT  —  ALIEN  GOVERNMENT  — 
CHINESE  UNITY  —  JAPANESE  AMBITIONS  —  THE 
DOMINATION  OF  THE  PACIFIC 30 

The  future  causes  —  The  fear  of  invasion  —  The 
exemption  of  private  property  at  sea  —  The  Occidental 


CONTENTS 

desire  for  ports,  concessions,  and  spheres  of  influence  in 
the  East  —  The  inexpediency  of  very  large  units  of  na- 
tional territory  and  government  —  The  sentiment  of 
nationality  —  The  universal  objection  to  alien  govern- 
ment —  The  ambitions  of  the  Japanese  —  The  domina- 
tion of  the  Pacific  impossible  for  any  one  nation,  desir- 
able for  a  combination  of  strong  naval  powers  —  Inter- 
national peace  the  interest  of  Japan  —  Many  of  the 
causes  of  war  in  time  past  continue  to  exist  —  Promising 
expenditures  for  the  promotion  of  peace. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  GREAT  EUROPEAN  WAR  —  ITS  CAUSES,  SCOPE, 
AND  OBJECTS  —  WHAT  GAINS  FOR  MANKIND  CAN 
COME  our  OP  IT  57 

The  chances  of  getting  some  gams  for  mankind  out  of 
the  gigantic  struggle  —  Secret  negotiations  a  great 
mischief  —  the  permanent  national  executive  independ- 
ent of  popular  control  —  the  small  state  in  Europe  — 
the  larger  national  units  in  Europe  —  The  national  desire 
for  larger  territories  and  for  colonies  —  Competitive 
armaments  and  universal  conscription  are  preparations 
'  for  war  not  peace  —  Militarism  is  inconsistent  with 
democratic  society  —  the  Allies  are  fighting  for  freedom 
and  civilization  —  The  American  Government  must  be 
neutral,  but  American  sympathies  and  hopes  cannot  be. 


CHAPTER  VI 

TRUE  NATIONAL  GREATNESS  —  ARE  ITS  FOUNDA- 
TIONS IMPERIALISM  OR  DEMOCRACY,  FIGHTING 
POWER  OR  SOLEMN  PUBLIC  COMPACTS?  ....  71 

Can  the  ideals  of  fighting  power  and  domination  be 
replaced  by  the  ideals  of  peaceful  competition,  gener- 
ous rivalry,  and  cooperation  for  mutual  benefit  —  Can 
civilization  enforce  the  inviolability  of  treaties  and  other 
solemn  compacts  between  peoples? 


CONTENTS  XI 

CHAPTER  VH 

SOME  GROUNDS  FOR  AMERICAN  SYMPATHY  WITH 
MODERN  GERMANY  —  WHY  AMERICAN  OPINION 
FAVORS  THE  ALLIES  IN  THE  GREAT  WAR  —  THE 
MOST  FAVORABLE  ISSUE  OF  THE  WAR  ....  81 

German  commercial  and  industrial  growth  since  the 
Franco-Prussian  War  —  Achievements  in  Letters  and 
Science  in  the  nineteenth  century  —  Administrative  effi- 
ciency —  Why  American  opinion  favors  the  Allies  — 
Why  thoughtful  Americans  see  but  one  possible  issue  of 
the  War  —  For  more  than  a  generation  the  fallacy  that 
Might  makes  Right  has  been  poisoning  the  springs  of 
German  thought  —  Americans  hope  and  expect  that  the 
present  struggle  will  result  in  neither  World-Empire  nor 
ruin  for  the  German  Nation. 

CHAPTER  Vm 

AMERICA'S  DUTY  IN  REGARD  TO  THE  EUROPEAN 
WAR 97 

The  great  disappointments  the  War  has  brought  to 
all  persons  who  hoped  that  the  human  race  was  making 
steady  progress  in  civilization  —  The  destructiveness 
of  the  fighting  —  The  violation  of  treaties  and  conven- 
tions —  The  abandonment  of  the  chivalrous  principle 
that  the  strong  should  protect,  not  crush,  the  weak  — 
The  disregard  of  the  ameliorations  of  warfare  which  in- 
ternational law  was  supposed  to  have  procured  —  The 
development  of  fierce  hatreds  between  nations  —  The 
acceptance  by  Germany  of  the  dogma  that  Might  makes 
Right  —  American  neutrality  official  or  legal  —  Keep 
the  industries  going  —  No  hoarding  —  Least  possible 
reduction  of  expenditures,  except  expenditures  on  luxu- 
ries—  Neither  party  will  stop  fighting  till  exhaustion 
threatens  —  Reasons  for  the  American  belief  that  Eng- 
land, France,  and  Russia  will  hold  out  longest  —  The 
obligations  of  the  American  people  to  England  and 
France  —  Can  we  think  of  giving  no  aid  to  England  or 


Xll  CONTENTS 

France  if  she  come  near  the  end  of  her  resources  —  Amer- 
icans see  whither  the  German  policies  and  the  teachings 
of  the  German  leaders  have  led  the  German  people. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  CAUSES  OF  THE  WAR  ABE  AUTOCRATIC  IN- 
STITUTIONS, NATIONAL  DESIRES  FOR  EMPIRE, 
DISREGARD  FOR  TREATIES  AND  CONVENTIONS, 
AND  FALSE  PHILOSOPHIES  —  WHY  GERMANY  MUST 
BE  DEFEATED 114 

German  desire  for  World-Empire  —  The  invincible 
army  and  navy  —  The  doctrine  of  military  necessity  — 
The  religion  of  valor  —  What  German  domination  would 
mean  —  Germany  has  never  feared  Russia  —  Empire  or 
downfall,  victory  or  ruin,  the  real  mottoes  of  German 
leaders  —  Desirable  outcomes  of  the  War  —  No  World- 
Empire  for  any  race  or  nation — No  chief  executives  with 
power  to  throw  their  countrymen  into  war  —  No  secret 
diplomacy  —  No  conscript  armies  —  A  league  or  Federal 
Council  to  prevent  war,  bring  about  the  reduction  of 
armaments,  and  secure  the  liberties  of  each  and  all  the 
federated  states  —  The  justifiable  war  —  The  cause  of 
righteous  liberty  is  the  cause  of  civilization. 


CHAPTER  X 

CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN  CHARLES  W.  ELIOT  AND 
JACOB  H.  SCHIFF  ABOUT  THE  WAR,  BETWEEN 
NOVEMBER  24,  AND  DECEMBER  14,  1914  .  .  .  129 

No  lasting  peace  without  the  abandonment  of  Ger- 
many's intense  desire  for  enlargement  —  American  pub- 
lic opinion  should  express  itself  in  favor  of  an  early 
peace  —  A  group  of  American  publicists  might  induce 
the  Governments  of  England,  France,  and  Germany  to 
listen  to  reasonable  terms  —  The  War  ought  not  to  stop 
until  Germany  sees  that  its  declared  policies  cannot  pre- 


CONTENTS 

vail  —  Europe  should  now  choose  between  the  German 
ideal  of  the  State  and  the  Anglo-American  —  The  com- 
batants would  not  listen  now  to  outsiders  advising  im- 
mediate peace  —  The  United  States  has  no  right  to  any 
position  as  umpire  —  To  stop  the  War  now  would  be  to 
leave  humanity  exposed  to  the  certain  recurrence  of 
ferocious  war  —  Make  peace  now  to  stop  the  destruc- 
tion of  life  and  capital  —  The  perpetual  ceasing  of  war 
is  impracticable  —  Free-trade  cannot  be  established 
throughout  the  world  —  The  European  nationalism  of 
the  past  fifty  years  will  not  cease  —  England  will  not 
abandon  her  domination  of  the  high  seas  —  If  England 
and  her  ally  Japan  come  out  victorious,  the  United 
States  will  be  forced  into  heavy  expenditures  for  defense 
—  If  the  Allies  are  victorious,  Russia  will  become  the 
most  powerful  nation  and  England's  Nemesis. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  WAB  AN  UNPRECEDENTED  CALAMITY  —  SHALL 
ITS  OUTCOME  BE  AN  UNPRECEDENTED  GAIN?  .    .  151 

Unprecedented  scale  and  destructiveness  of  the  War — 
The  most  horrible  calamity  that  has  befallen  the  race  — 
Each  Government  denies  responsibility  for  it  —  Real 
causes  are,  (1)  autocratic  governments,  (2)  conscript 
armies  and  large  military  class,  (3)  bureaucracy,  (4)  the 
lust  of  empire  —  Germany  has  three  times  added  to  her 
territory  in  Europe  by  war  —  Has  been  aggressive  in 
her  search  for  colonies  and  in  her  eager  desire  for  World- 
Empire —  The  Emperor  as  War  Lord  and  Sovereign 
by  Divine  Right  —  The  German  conception  of  the  State 
—  the  Beatitudes  and  the  Religion  of  Valor  —  No  such 
thing  as  World-Empire  for  any  single  nation  —  National 
militarism  to  be  controlled  by  an  international  force 
under  the  direction  of  a  European  League  or  Council  — 
The  establishment  of  such  a  League  or  Council  must 
precede  reductions  in  national  armaments  —  The  ex- 
amples of  Switzerland,  Great  Britain,  and  the  United 
States  —  Peace  proposals  should  be  mininuim  not  maxi- 
mum proposals. 


XIV  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  XII 

THE  PILGRIMS'   IDEALS  —  A    FREE  CHURCH   m  A 
FREE  STATE  IN  1620 164 

Religious  liberty  and  toleration,  civil  and  political 
liberty,  and  a  chief  executive  elected  for  one  year  —  A 
progressive  church  in  a  state  created  and  controlled  by 
free  men  —  Stock  in  their  commercial  company  paid  for 
either  in  cash  or  in  personal  risk  and  service  —  An  exam- 
ple of  cooperative  management  —  Every  able-bodied 
citizen  bore  arms  —  The  "  United  Colonies  of  New  Eng- 
land" an  early  example  of  confederation  —  Europe  has 
never  got  so  far  as  the  Pilgrims  in  1643  —  The  Pilgrims 
proved  that  there  is  no  safe  substitute  for  the  institution 
of  private  property  —  Compare  the  teachings  of  modern 
Socialism  —  The  Pilgrims  practiced  "  Each  for  All  and 
All  for  Each"  —  The  Pilgrim  women  courageous,  cap- 
able, and  strong  —  More  truth  and  light  are  constantly 
to  be  won,  and  it  is  Truth  that  makes  men  free  —  This 
faith  can  rescue  Europe  from  the  present  horrors  and 
sufferings. 


CHAPTER 

NATIONAL  EFFICIENCY    BEST    DEVELOPED    UNDER 
FREE  GOVERNMENTS 181 

The  real  causes  of  the  War  are  states  of  mind,  ambi- 
tions of  princes  and  peoples,  and  popular  emotions  — 
The  potent  sentiment  of  nationality  is  independent  of 
common  language,  size  of  territory,  and  form  of  govern- 
ment —  Recent  tendency  toward  larger  national  units  — 
New  conceptions  of  the  State  —  Imperialism  —  The 
government  of  Germany  the  most  autocratic  in  Europe 
—  The  Germans  do  not  know  what  political  and  social 
liberty  is,  or  understand  parliamentary  or  party  govern- 
ment —  To  them  political  liberty  means  public  incapa- 
city and  weakness  —  The  War  a  conflict  between  free 
and  autocratic  institutions  —  The  exceptional  position  of 
Russia  —  Can  the  freer  nations  develop  an  efficiency 


CONTENTS  XV 

equal  to  the  German  —  no  liberty  in  German  education 

—  The  German  estimate  of  the  intellectual  and  social 
influence  of  women  —  The  limitations  of  German  "aca- 
demic freedom"  —  German  efficiency  depends  on  the 
subjection  of  the  individual  —  All  the  freer  nations  be- 
lieve in  liberty  as  an  essential  element  in  the  development 
of  the  individual,  and  therefore  of  national  efficiency  — 
The  improvements  in  industries  have  proceeded  from  the 
freer  countries,  and  not  from  the  countries  despotically 
governed  —  Germany  cannot  claim  leadership  in  useful 
inventions  or  in  literature,  science,  philosophy,  or  poetry 

—  The  War  will  test  this  theory  of  national  efficiency. 


CHAPTER  XTV 

LESSONS  OF  THE  WAR  TO  MARCH  NINTH      .     .    .  206 

APPENDIX 

I.  President  Eliot's  address  at  the  special  academic  session 
called  to  confer  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  on  Prince 
Henry  of  Prussia,  March  6,  1902 221 

II.  President  Eliot's  address  at  a  banquet  given  March  6, 
1902,  by  the  City  of  Boston  to  Prince  Henry  of  Prussia  225 


THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 


CHAPTER  I 

THE    COMPETITIVE    ARMING    OF   THE    NATIONS 
A  WAY  OF  ESCAPE1 

I  TOOK  a  very  serious  subject  for  my  few 
minutes'  talk  to  you  to-day,  when  I  wrote  to 
your  Secretary  that  I  should  like  to  speak 
about  "  The  Way  of  Escape  from  the  Compet- 
itive Arming  of  the  Nations."  Secretary  Root 
alluded  to  what  is  to  be  my  text  when  he  spoke 
before  you  a  few  weeks  ago.  There  is,  in  the 
history  of  the  United  States  and  Canada,  a 
most  extraordinary  act,  which,  I  believe,  prophe- 
sies a  way  of  escape  from  this  monstrous  and 
shameful  evil,  the  competitive  arming  of  the 
civilized  nations  against  each  other.  Secretary 
Root  alluded  to  it  as  a  convention,  a  conven- 
tion made  in  1817  by  the  Government  of  Great 
Britain  and  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  to  limit  the  armaments  on  the  Great 
Lakes  for  both  nations.  That  was  a  very  ex- 

1  An  address  before  the  Canadian  Club  of  Ottawa  OB  the  23d 
of  February,  1907. 


2  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

traordinary  document  in  its  form.  It  was  not 
a  treaty ;  it  was  not  a  law  ;  it  was,  as  described 
in  the  proclamation  of  James  Monroe,  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  an  "  arrangement " 
—  that  was  all.  The  two  countries  agreed  that 
they  would  only  maintain  on  the  Great  Lakes 
each  one  vessel  of  not  exceeding  one  hundred 
tons  and  carrying  one  eighteen-pounder  on 
Lake  Ontario,  two  other  vessels  on  the  "  Upper 
Lakes,"  as  they  were  described,  each  of  the 
same  size  and  with  the  same  gun,  and  one  other 
on  Lake  Champlain.  That  was  to  be  the  abso- 
lute limit  of  the  armaments  of  these  two  na- 
tions on  the  Great  Lakes.  Now  that  "arrange- 
ment," as  President  Monroe  called  it,  was  made 
under  very  extraordinary  circumstances.  It  was 
the  invention  of  John  Quincy  Adams.  It  was 
presented  by  him  to  our  then  Secretary  of  State, 
James  Monroe,  who,  in  the  following  year,  be- 
came President.  But  the  person  who  negotiated 
it  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  was  only 
Deputy  or  Under-Secretary  of  State  —  it  did 
not  attain  even  the  dignity  of  an  "arrange- 
ment" by  the  Secretary  of  State.  It  was  the 
simplest  possible  agreement  for  an  heroic  and 
monumental  purpose. 

What  was  the  condition  of  things  on  the 


APPEAL  TO  PUBLIC  OPINION  BEFORE  WAR     3 

Great  Lakes  at  that  time?  The  British  Govern- 
ment then  had  in  commission  on  the  Lakes 
vessels  mounting  over  three  hundred  guns,  and 
was  building  at  that  moment  two  seventy-four- 
gun  ships  on  the  Lakes  —  actually  building 
them  at  the  time  this  arrangement  was  made. 
And  what  was  the  state  of  mind  of  the  two  na- 
tions, calm  or  excited  ?  They  had  just  come  out 
of  a  war,  and  a  war  in  which  fighting  on  the 
Lakes  bore  a  great  part.  Were  not  these  ex- 
traordinary conditions  under  which  to  make  a 
simple  "arrangement"  which  does  not  cover 
twenty  lines  of  printed  paper,  to  secure  a  per- 
fect peace  of  ninety  years  already  without  once 
transgressing  this  extraordinarily  low  limit  of 
armament  upon  these  Lakes  on  our  borders  ?  I 
say  that  this  act  prophesies  the  way  of  escape 
from  competitive  armaments. 

If  we  consider  the  means  of  navigation  in 

O 

those  days,  the  time  required  for  voyages  across 
the  Lakes,  and  the  dangers  on  the  way,  with 
only  wind  to  propel  the  vessel,  shall  we  not  see 
that  the  Atlantic  Ocean  offers  no  greater  obsta- 
cles to  such  an  "  arrangement "  as  this  than  the 
Lakes  did  then?  We  cross  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
in  six  or  seven  days,  with  the  greatest  facility. 
We  mount  on  what  may  be  called  platforms 


4  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

heavy  armaments,  which  are  yet  capable  of  pro- 
ceeding through  the  roughest  ocean  in  com- 
parative steadiness.  Our  means  for  naval  fight- 
ing on  the  instant  are  much  greater,  relatively 
to  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  than  the  means  of  these 
two  peoples  were  for  fighting  on  the  Lakes  in 
1817.  I  say,  therefore,  that  in  this  act  of  our 
two  Governments  there  is  a  prophecy,  a  hopeful 
prophecy  for  the  future. 

What  is  the  essence  of  this  regulation  ?  It  is 
simply  a  self-denying  ordinance  which  secures 
equal  force  to  the  two  Governments  on  the 
Lakes,  and  prevents  any  surprise  of  one  power 
by  the  other.  And  that  is  just  what  needs  to 
be  done  on  an  international  scale.  Moreover, 
this  little  armament  on  the  Lakes  on  either  side 
is  nothing  but  a  police  force.  Now,  that  is  ex- 
actly what  we  want  all  over  the  world  —  a  self- 
denying  ordinance  and  a  police  force  furnished 
by  all  the  civilized  nations,  combined  to  main- 
tain a  common  force. 

What  is  the  difference  between  the  police 
function  and  the  soldier's  or  the  sailor's  func- 
tion in  war?  I  think  the  chief  difference  is 
that  in  the  main  the  first  is  protective  and  the 
other  destructive.  Both  imply  the  use  of  force ; 
and  we  are  a  long  way  from  the  time  when 


APPEAL  TO  PUBLIC  OPINION  BEFORE  WAR     5 

government  will  not  rest  on  force.  At  the  bot- 
tom, the  most  civilized  governments  need  force 
as  the  basis  of  their  power  and  the  means  of 
executing  their  will.  But  there  may  be  a  great 
difference  between  force  and  force.  A  police 
force  is,  in  the  main,  a  protective  force.  Now 
and  then,  to  be  sure,  it  proceeds  energetically 
against  a  criminal,  an  offender,  a  disturber  of 
the  peace.  But  far  the  greater  part  of  the  func- 
tion of  the  police  is  protection.  It  goes  quickly 
to  the  scene  of  any  catastrophe;  it  preserves 
order  on  the  highways,  in  crowds,  and  in  indus- 
tries ;  it  maintains  the  peace.  You  have  in 
Canada  a  splendid  example  of  the  legitimate, 
the  indispensable,  the  omnipresent  police  force 
in  your  Northwest  Mounted  Police.  There  is  a 
force  eminently  superior  to  that  of  the  soldier. 
Any  one  of  these  police  officers  can  arrest, — 
that  is  a  very  wholesome  power,  and  it  is  just 
what  we  want  between  the  nations ;  we  want  a 
force  that  can  arrest  the  disturber.  We  want 
that  bulwark  for  peace  —  a  police  force  that 
can  prevent  disturbance,  and  deal  effectively 
and  finally  with  the  disturber  of  the  peace, 
whoever  he  is.  He  is  probably  a  person  tempo- 
rarily out  of  his  mind.  He  needs  protection 
from  himself,  and  all  the  rest  of  us  need  to  be 


6  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

protected  from  him.  That  is  the  true  function 
of  a  police  force,  and  that  is  what  the  civilized 
world  greatly  needs. 

But  then,  you  will  say,  police  officers  ordi- 
narily act  under  the  direction  of  a  court,  if 
there  be  an  accessible  court.  It  is  quite  con- 
venient in  the  wilderness  to  have  a  police  offi- 
cer who  is  himself  a  magistrate,  and  that  is 
just  what  you  have  provided.  But,  as  a  rule, 
an  effective  police  acts  under  the  orders  of  a 
court.  There  again,  we  have  at  The  Hague  a 
momentous  prophecy  of  the  reorganization  of 
the  civilized  world  to  preserve  peace,  and  to 
protect  the  productive  industries.  It  is  but  the 
shadow,  the  ghost,  you  may  say,  of  an  effective 
court  as  yet ;  for  behind  every  effective  court 
must  lie  force  —  the  police  force.  That  is  what 
the  international  tribunal  will  need  and  must 
have,  to  be  an  effective  tribunal.  Should  we 
shrink  from  the  prospect  of  such  control,  under 
the  findings  of  an  international  court  with  force 
behind  it  to  compel  obedience?  We  are  used 
to  all  that  in  the  organization  of  every  one  of 
the  civilized  nations.  In  the  structure  and  de- 
velopment of  every  nation  that  process,  that 
habit  of  obedience  to  the  mandate  of  a  court 
enforced,  marks  the  gathering  growth  of  civil- 


APPEAL  TO  PUBLIC  OPINION  BEFORE  WAR     7 

ization.  And  that  is  what  the  group  of  nations 
which  is  to  make  up  the  civilized  world  needs 
to  create  —  the  habit,  as  a  group  of  nations,  of 
submitting  to  the  mandate  of  an  international 
court  enforced. 

Now,  we  people  who  have  come  into  this  new 
land,  out  of  the  older  nations  that  loved  liberty 
and  slowly  gained  it,  always  shrink  from  new 
submissions.  But  if  we  look  back  upon  our  own 
past  —  and  that  is  the  only  way  to  look  forward 
with  insight  into  the  future  —  do  we  not  learn 
by  our  own  experiences  that  here  lies  the  way 
of  peace  and  good-will  ?  As  I  survey  the  numer- 
ous experiments  of  free  government  on  the  earth, 
the  whole  question  of  success  in  free  government 
seems  to  resolve  itself  into  the  amount  of  good- 
will which  can  be  developed  under  free  govern- 
ment between  the  governors  and  the  governed, 
and  between  the  different  classes  of  men  who 
live  together  under  one  form  of  government. 
That  is  the  test  of  success  in  free  government  — 
the  total  amount  of  good-will  which  it  develops. 
Now,  our  Governments,  the  United  States  on 
one  hand  and  Canada  on  the  other,  have  been 
more  successful  than  any  other  free  governments 
in  the  world,  so  far  as  I  know,  in  developing  just 
that  good-will  among  men. 


8  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

We  have  great  new  strifes  in  both  our  coun- 
tries, new  strifes  which  have  grown  out  of  the 
astounding  social  and  industrial  changes  of  the 
last  forty  years.  I  see  at  this  table  one  whom  I 
am  proud  to  claim  as  a  graduate  of  Harvard 
University,  whose  business  seems  to  be,  as  far 
as  I  understand  it,  to  get  in  between  the  striv- 
ers  in  industrial  contests.  Now,  these  strifes 
have  something  to  teach  concerning  international 
strifes.  We  have  had  such  at  their  worst  in  the 
United  States  within  the  last  fifteen  years,  and 
you  have  had  them  here  in  very  serious  form. 
We  are  both  likely  to  have  them  in  the  future ; 
because  not  all  men  on  either  side  of  these  con- 
troversies are  men  of  good- will  —  and  so  we  are 
going  to  encounter  this  new  form  of  struggle 
and  contention.  What  is  the  way  out  of  that? 
I  believe  that  your  House  of  Commons  has  been 
taking  some  action  to-day  which  looks  toward 
providing  the  most  hopeful  way  out  of  these 
strifes,  namely,  through  publicity  —  nothing 
but  publicity.  In  the  United  States  we  are  in 
the  habit  of  complaining  very  much  and  very 
often  about  the  publicity  which  our  newspapers 
give  to  every  fair  and  every  foul  happening  in 
the  United  States.  But,  gentlemen,  in  that  pub- 
licity lies  the  great  hope  of  the  world.  It  is  the 


APPEAL  TO  PUBLIC  OPINION  BEFORE  WAR     9 

hope  of  peace ;  it  is  the  guaranty  of  peace ;  it 
is  the  way  we  are  to  find  not  only  industrial 
peace,  but  peace  between  the  civilized  nations 
of  the  world.  We  are  going  to  see  the  limita- 
tion of  armaments,  the  international  court,  the 
international  police  force,  and  the  compelled  ap- 
peal to  public  opinion  before  war.  That,  as  I 
understand  it,  is  just  what  you  are  going  to  do 
with  regard  to  industrial  strifes  —  to  compel  ap- 
peal to  public  opinion  before  war.  And  there  I 
find  the  promise  of  a  better  day  in  regard  to 
competitive  arming.  What  a  hideous  waste  that 
arming  is  !  Some  eminent  authorities  maintain 
that  the  way  to  preserve  peace  is  to  make  your- 
self formidable  for  war.  Gentlemen,  that  is  not 
the  way  of  the  United  States  and  Canada  since 
the  year  1817.  And  is  there  a  more  completely 
successful  example  to  be  found  anywhere  of  the 
way  to  escape  competitive  arming? 


CHAPTER  II 

IS    FORCE    THE    RIGHTFUL    RULER  ?  INTERNA- 
TIONAL     PLANS 
TIONAL   ACTION 


TIONAL      PLANS       MUST      PRECEDE      INTERNA- 
1 


WE  have  heard  a  great  variety  of  suggestions 
this  morning  concerning  the  furtherance  of  this 
cause  in  institutions  of  education.  Some  of 
them  have  been  practical  suggestions  as  to  what 
may  he  taught  and  done  in  schools  and  colleges. 
But  I  think  most  of  them  have  been  really  sug- 
gestions that  this  holy  cause  is  best  to  be  fur- 
thered in  educational  institutions  by  a  steady 
improvement  in  what  Professor  Willoughby 
called  their  moral  climate.  That  change  of  moral 
climate  is  sure  to  bring  about  a  state  of  public 
opinion  which  will  mitigate  the  violence  of  na- 
tions. Now,  there  are  a  good  many  hopeful  signs 
as  to  a  change  of  moral  climate  in  our  institu- 
tions of  education.  I  have  personally  seen  sev- 
eral most  encouraging  changes  in  this  respect. 
For  instance,  when  I  was  a  boy  in  the  best  public 
school  of  the  city  of  Boston  and  the  oldest 

1  A  speech  to  the  Lake  Mohonk  Conference  on  Interna- 
tional Arbitration  in  May,  1907. 


IS  FORCE  THE  RIGHTFUL  RULER?          11 

school  in  Massachusetts,  the  control  used  was 
physical  force,  the  application  of  torture  —  that 
is  the  long  and  short  of  it ;  the  control  was  force. 
Now  that  has  disappeared  from  the  American 
school  system,  and  with  it  has  gone  the  teach- 
ing that  force  is  the  rightful  ruler.  That  change 
runs  through  the  American  family  as  well  as  the 
American  school.  There  has  been  a  wonderful 
improvement  in  home  discipline  in  that  respect, 
and  that  improvement  goes  our  way,  ladies  and 
gentlemen.  It  goes  toward  the  abandonment  in 
all  human  affairs  of  the  exercise  of  force  as  final 
control. 

There  is  another  climatic  change  which  has 
been  wrought  in  schools  and  colleges  quite 
within  the  period  of  my  observation.  There  used 
to  be  all  through  our  school  system  and  our  col- 
lege system  a  large  element  of  prescription,  — 
"  Thou  shalt  "  and  "  Thou  shalt  not !  "  There 
was  a  deplorably  small  element  of  cultivation 
of  freedom  of  the  will,  of  self-control  in  the 
individual. 

The  implicit  obedience  inculcation  is  another 
way  of  expressing  subjection  to  force  in  gov- 
ernment. It  is  essentially  military  in  quality; 
and  there  again  we  have  a  change  in  all  our 
educational  institutions  which  goes  the  way  of 


12        THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

this  Conference.  We  cultivate  now  in  the  young, 

—  that  is,  the  wise  teacher  cultivates  in  the 
young,  from  the  beginning  and  all   through 
school  life,  the  power  of  self -direction,  self- 
control  ;  and,  after  all,  to  acquire  self-control 
is  the  supreme  object  in  education.  Here  again 
is  a  broad  change  in  education  which  goes  the 
way  of  this  Conference  toward  international 
self-control. 

But  are  we  to  expect  that  the  element  of 
force  is  now  going  out  of  government  ?  By  no 
means.  It  must  remain,  as  Commissioner  Draper 
said,  the  ultimate  appeal.  But  what  kind  of 
force  is  going  to  continue  in  the  world  ?  Not 
the  force  of  army  and  navy,  but  the  force  we 
call  police  power,  a  force  nineteen  twentieths  of 
the  applications  of  which  are  protective.  Force 
as  protection  is  an  entirely  different  thing  from 
force  as  aggression.  What  the  world  is  going 
to  preserve  as  abiding  force  is  the  force  we  call 
police  force,  which  keeps  peace,  preserves  order, 
and  brings  help. 

Universities  and  colleges  illustrate,  I  believe, 

—  at  least  in  our  country,  —  the  coming  form 
of  government  all  over  the  world.  The  coming 
form  —  not  to-morrow,  not  in  the  next  decade, 
but  we  may  fairly  hope  in  the  next  century. 


IS  FOECE  TEE  RIGHTFUL  RULER?  13 

What  is  the  characterization  of  college  and 
university  government  ?  No  force  whatever,  no 
penalty  except  exile  —  and  that  is  enough  — 
in  all  these  college  and  university  administra- 
tions of  our  country.  In  that  condition  they 
teach  freedom,  they  teach  self-government ;  and 
there  is  another  thing  they  teach — good-will. 
Good-will  among  men  results  from  all  teaching 
which  can  be  called  world-wide,  all  teaching  of 
the  nature  of  different  peoples,  of  their  laws 
and  customs,  and  of  their  religions.  The  great- 
est development  in  teaching  that  I  know  of 
during  the  last  ten  years  in  our  institutions  is 
the  development  of  what  is  called  comparative 
teaching  :  —  comparative  anatomy,  comparative 
physiology,  comparative  psychology,  and  com- 
parative pathology.  This  comparative  teaching 
goes  right  into  moral  questions  as  well  as  physi- 
cal questions.  Much  of  the  teaching  of  law  has 
become  comparative  and  much  of  the  teaching 
of  religion. 

In  all  these  ways  the  colleges  and  universi- 
ties are  widening  out  human  sympathies,  and 
bringing  in  a  new  epoch  of  good-will.  The 
universities,  it  was  said  this  morning,  live  to 
seek  and  to  teach  truth.  Very  true.  Now,  my 
present  teachers  in  Biblical  criticism  have 


14       THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

taught  me  that  the  angels'  song  over  the  plains 
of  Bethlehem  is  not  rightly  translated  in  the 
common  version.  It  is  not  "Peace  on  earth, 
good-will  to  men  "  ;  the  real  meaning  is,  "  Peace 
on  earth  to  men  of  good-will."  That  is  what 
the  universities  are  helping  to  bring  about,  the 
increase  of  good-will ;  and  then  force  will  only 
be  applied  to  men  who  lack  good-will.  There 
will  always  be  some  such  men,  therefore  there 
will  always  be  some  force  needed,  so  far  as  we 
can  see ;  but  the  policies  of  the  American  uni- 
versities as  forms  of  government  indicate  that 
before  very  long  the  free  governments  of  the 
world  will  find  it  necessary  to  use  but  little  force 
and  that  a  police  force. 

UNTIMELY   PEACE   PROPOSALS1 

I  suppose  we  are  all  agreed  that  both  these 
objects  are  very  desirable.  They  are  elements 
in  the  great  reform  to  which  this  Conference 
is  committed ;  —  no  doubt  about  that.  But  the 
platform  this  year  is  drawn  in  a  somewhat  new 
manner.  It  urges  that  the  Second  Conference 

1  Remarks  at  the  same  Conference  on  proposals  that  the 
Conference  recommend  action  at  the  Second  Conference  of 
The  Hague  on  the  Neutralization  of  Ocean  Trade  Routes, 
aud  on  the  Immediate  Reduction  of  Armaments. 


UNTIMELY  PEACE  PROPOSALS  15 

of  The  Hague  take  certain  action.  Is  there  a 
person  in  this  room  who  can  suppose  for  a  mo- 
ment that  the  Second  Conference  of  The  Hague 
can  take  action  on  either  of  these  propositions  ? 
Our  platform,  as  reported,  urges  positive,  af- 
firmative action  at  the  Second  Conference  of 
The  Hague  on  five  important  points.  We  must 
all  agree  that  the  neutralization  of  routes  of 
commerce  is  impossible  until  there  is  a  real 
court  at  The  Hague,  and  a  force  to  carry  out  its 
orders.  A  force  must  see  to  the  execution  of  the 
neutralization  of  routes.  We  have  examples  of 
neutralization  in  the  world  already  —  admirable 
examples  —  Switzerland  and  the  Suez  Canal; 
— and  how  are  those  neutralizations  enforced? 
When  Swiss  territory  is  to  be  held  neutral, 
Switzerland  puts  an  army  of  a  hundred  thou- 
sand men  into  the  field ;  when  the  Suez  Canal 
is  to  be  held  neutral,  the  whole  navy  of  Great 
Britain  enforces  the  order.  Shall  we  forward 
the  reforms  we  have  in  mind  by  urging  action 
on  either  of  these  two  proposals,  when  we  all 
know  that  it  is  impossible  for  The  Hague  to 
take  action?  We  might  reasonably  say,  per- 
haps, that  we  ask  The  Hague  to  begin  the  study 
of  a  plan  for  the  reduction  of  armaments.  That 
looks  possible;  that  looks  feasible.  Nothing 


16  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

else  is  feasible.  Is  there  a  person  in  this  room 
who  would  advise  Germany  to  consent  to  an 
arbitration  on  the  reduction  of  armaments? 
Germany,  as  Mr.  Smiley  has  said,  is  surrounded 
by  alien  armies  which  can  be  rushed  on  to  her 
territory  at  a  week's  notice.  Can  the  United 
States,  off  here  across  the  ocean,  in  a  position 
of  singular  security,  propose  even  that  Germany 
shall  consent  to  a  discussion  of  the  reduction 
of  armaments  until  there  is  an  international 
court  and  a  force  behind  the  court  ?  It  seems 
to  me,  from  all  my  experience  in  carrying  on 
reforms,  that  the  first  rule  for  a  reformer  is 
never  to  urge  action  toward  a  reform  till  he  has 
prepared  an  adequate  plan  of  action.  We  have 
no  plan  of  action  with  regard  to  the  reduction 
of  armaments  or  the  neutralization  of  ocean 
trade  routes.  Nobody  has  such  a  plan.  We 
ought  to  have  an  international  plan  before  we 
urge  international  action. 


CHAPTER  IH 

THE   FEARS   WHICH   CAUSE   THE   INCREASING 
ARMAMENTS1 

ALL  peace  promoters  have  been  cheered  by 
the  progress  made  since  Russia  called  the  first 
Hague  Conference  toward  the  substitution  of 
arbitration  for  war,  and  this  meeting  in  partic- 
ular has  been  greatly  encouraged  and  stimu- 
lated to-day.  It  is  plain,  however,  that  much 
remains  to  be  done  before  a  permanent  inter- 
national supreme  court  is  established  with  some 
adequate  force  behind  it,  whether  control  of 
credit,  or  armed  police,  or  effective  world-opin- 
ion, and  that  the  race  for  armaments  is  hotter 
than  ever. 

There  must,  then,  be  some  very  strong  rea- 
sons for  the  slow  progress  made  toward  an  ef- 
fective system  of  international  arbitration,  and 
for  the  continuance  of  the  extraordinarily  waste- 
ful competition  in  providing  armaments ;  for 
all  the  competing  nations  feel  keenly  the  well- 
nigh  intolerable  burden  of  taxation  which  mod- 

1  A  paper  read  at  the  Lake  Mohonk  Conference  of  May, 
1910. 


18  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

ern  preparations  for  war  on  the  instant,  offen- 
sive or  defensive,  impose. 

I  find  these  reasons  in  two  chronic  apprehen- 
sions felt  by  all  the  civilized  nations  alike,  — 
although  the  two  are  not  equally  felt  by  the 
different  peoples,  because  of  geographical  and 
commercial  diversities.  The  first  of  these  chronic 
apprehensions  is  the  fear  lest  the  nation's  exte- 
rior supplies  of  food  or  of  the  raw  materials  of 
its  industries  should  be  cut  off.  The  second  is 
the  fear  lest  an  immense  hostile  army  should  be 
thrown  into  the  national  territory  with  only  a 
few  days',  or  even  a  few  hours',  warning. 

Either  of  these  chronic  apprehensions  may 
be  suddenly  exalted  to  panic  by  occurrences  of 
a  really  trivial  nature.  The  speech  of  a  minister 
before  a  legislature,  a  note  from  a  ruler,  or  even 
a  short  series  of  articles  in  an  influential  news- 
paper may  raise  either  of  these  chronic  appre- 
hensions to  the  dimensions  of  a  panic.  These 
fears  are  not  fairly  to  be  described  as  dreams, 
or  illusions,  or  fantastic  nightmares.  They  are 
not  created,  though  they  may  be  aggravated, 
by  unscrupulous  manufacturers,  tradesmen,  or 
newspapers.  They  are  founded  on  historical 
facts,  borne  clearly  in  mind  by  the  present  gen- 
erations, and  on  generally  accepted  axioms  con- 


FEARS  CAUSE  COMPETITIVE  ARMING        19 

cerning  national  well-being,  as  likely  to  be  di- 
minished by  being  conquered,  or  even  invaded, 
and  increased  by  any  successful  conquering. 

These  axioms  may  be  as  absurd  as  the  duel- 
ling code  now  seems  to  most  Anglo-Saxons,  but 
like  that  code  of  so-called  honor  they  are  gen- 
erally accepted  in  continental  Europe  and  among 
large  portions  of  the  population  of  North  and 
South  America,  and  Great  Britain.  It  is  a  solid 
fact  that  an  overwhelming  majority  of  the  Eng- 
lish people  feel  it  to  be  for  them  a  matter  of 
life  and  death  that  they  keep  ready  for  instant 
action  fleets  capable  of  preventing  invasion  and 
the  cutting-oil  of  the  food  supplies  and  the  raw 
materials  which  come  to  them  over  seas ;  and 
so  long  as  they  seriously  dread  catastrophes  of 
that  nature  they  will  keep  on  building  prepon- 
derant fleets.  They  must  have  security  against 
such  ruinous  calamities. 

England  and  Japan  are  the  two  nations  which 
may  reasonably  feel  most  intensely  the  appre- 
hension about  their  food  and  raw  materials  j 
but  nations  whose  territories  are  not  insular 
may  also  feel  it  to  a  high  degree.  Thus,  Italy 
must  import  by  sea  both  food  and  coal,  France 
would  suffer  much  if  deprived  of  sea-borne  cot- 
ton, and  Germany  needs  to  import  by  sea  not 


20  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

only  much  food,  but  a  great  variety  of  materi- 
als for  her  expanding  industries.  The  territory 
of  the  United  States  is  so  vast,  and  extends 
through  so  many  climates,  that  it  is  difficult  for 
us  to  realize  how  formidable  to  any  nation  which 
cannot  raise  on  its  own  soil  all  its  food  and 
most  of  the  important  materials  of  the  indus- 
tries by  which  it  lives,  is  the  dread  of  the  cut- 
ting-off  of  a  large  portion  of  its  food  or  its  raw 
materials,  or  both.  During  far  the  greater  part 
of  the  year  England  is  not  supposed  to  have  in 
stock  at  any  one  time  more  than  six  weeks'  sup- 
ply of  food  for  her  population. 

In  view  of  such  a  fact  we  Americans  ought 
to  be  able  to  realize  that  this  dread  of  the  cut- 
ting-off  of  essential  supplies  must  be  calmed  and 
disposed  of  before  the  incessant  preparations 
for  war  now  going  on  can  possibly  be  checked 
or  stopped.  A  very  important  question,  there- 
fore, to  be  considered  by  those  who  wish  to  take 
effective  measures  to  promote  peace  is  this: 
What  generally  accepted  rule  of  international 
action  would  give  relief  from  this  intolerable 
apprehension,  and  what  new  police  forces  would 
be  necessary  to  secure  the  observance  of  that 
rule? 

Confining  our  thoughts  in  the  first  place  to 


FEARS  CAUSE  COMPETITIVE  ARMING        21 

operations  on  the  oceans,  we  easily  see  that  the 
adoption  by  a  decided  majority  of  the  great 
maritime  powers  of  the  principle  of  the  immu- 
nity of  private  property  at  sea  would  in  itself 
go  far  to  relieve  from  this  great  apprehension 
the  nations  that  suffer  most  from  it.  If  during 
a  naval  war  all  merchant  vessels  were  free  to 
come  and  go  on  the  open  seas  without  danger 
of  capture  or  of  any  interference,  a  nation  at 
war  would  have  little  reason  to  dread  the  inter- 
ruption of  its  supply  of  either  food  or  raw  ma- 
terial. To  affect  dangerously  its  supplies,  its 
adversary  would  have  to  establish  a  real  block- 
ade of  its  ports,  which  is  a  difficult  and  costly 
operation  in  these  days  of  high-speed  vessels 
independent  of  wind.  It  may  be  observed  in 
passing  that  changes  in  the  definitions  of  block- 
ade and  contraband  decidedly  advantageous  to 
neutrals  were  made  by  the  Naval  Conference  in 
which  Germany,  the  United  States,  Austria- 
Hungary,  Spain,  France,  Great  Britain,  Italy, 
Japan,  Russia,  and  the  Netherlands  participated 
at  London  in  1908-09.1  This  Conference  did 

1  The  Declaration  issued  by  the  Conference  by  Article  1, 
Chapter  1,  limits  blockade  to  ports  and  coasts  belonging  to  or 
occupied  by  the  enemy,  which  is  a  restrictive  definition  of  high 
value. 

In  Article  28,  Chapter  2  the  following  articles  are  declared 


22  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

work  of  high  value,  although  only  ten  selected 
nations  joined  in  it.  The  precedent  may  prove 
a  very  useful  one. 

The  adoption  on  paper  of  this  doctrine  of  the 
immunity  of  private  property  on  the  sea  would 
not  suffice,  however,  to  relieve  the  intense  anx- 
iety of  the  civilized  peoples  about  their  essen- 
tial supplies.  They  must  see  in  readiness  a  po- 
lice force  capable  of  securing  the  execution  of 
such  an  agreement  in  all  parts  of  the  globe. 

Can  we  imagine  the  creation  of  such  a  force? 
It  must,  of  course,  be  an  overwhelming  inter- 
national force,  which  no  single  nation  would 
have  a  fair  chance  of  successfully  resisting,  and 
it  must  be  available  in  all  the  oceans.  These 
conditions  would  be  fulfilled  if  the  group  of 
nations  which  took  part  in  the  Naval  Confer- 
ence at  London,  or  even  a  smaller  group  of  na- 

not  to  be  contraband  of  war :  Raw  cotton,  wool,  silk,  jute,  flax, 
hemp,  and  the  other  raw  materials  of  the  textile  industries, 
rubber,  resins,  gums  and  lacs,  hops,  raw  hides,  natural  and  ar- 
tificial manures,  ores,  clays,  lime,  stone,  bricks,  slates  and  tiles, 
porcelains  and  glassware,  paper,  soaps,  colors,  varnishes,  chem- 
icals like  soda,  ammonia,  and  sulphate  of  copper,  machines 
used  in  agriculture,  mining,  the  textile  industries  and  printing, 
precious  stones,  clocks  and  watches.  It  is  obvious  that  this  list, 
which  is  not  the  complete  enumeration  of  Article  28,  covers 
articles  of  great  value  to  every  manufacturing  nation,  and  that 
this  clear  declaration  that  they  are  not  contraband  marks  a 
decided  advance  in  the  law  of  maritime  war. 


FEARS  CAUSE  COMPETITIVE  ARMING        23 

tions  having  extensive  seacoasts  like  England, 
France,  Italy,  the  United  States,  Brazil,  Chile, 
and  Japan,  would  agree  to  the  immunity  of 
private  property  at  sea,  and  to  the  use  of  their 
combined  fleets,  or  any  adequate  portion  thereof, 
to  enforce  that  immunity  in  every  part  of  the 
world. 

The  combinations  mentioned  would  possess 
available  ports  in  all  the  great  divisions  of  the 
ocean.  Several  of  the  nations  named  have  al- 
ready expressed  willingness  to  accept  the  doc- 
trine of  immunity  for  private  property  at  sea. 
The  United  States  has  advocated  it  for  many 
years.  Other  nations  would  probably  wish  to 
join  such  a  league ;  but  their  adhesion  would 
not  be  indispensable,  though  desirable.  Coin- 
cident with  this  agreement  there  would  have 
to  be  another,  in  order  to  check  competition  in 
naval  armaments. 

The  nations  entering  such  a  league  would 
have  to  make  an  agreement  —  subject  to  peri- 
odical revision  —  not  to  increase  their  fleets  be- 
yond their  present  limits,  and  to  build  new 
vessels,  class  by  class,  only  in  substitution  for 
vessels  past  service.  Limitation  on  the  size  as 
well  as  the  number  of  vessels  of  each  class 
would  also  be  needed,  and  each  nation  would 


24       THE  KOAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

have  to  be  kept  informed  of  the  naval  con- 
structions undertaken  by  every  other  member 
of  the  league.  Such  agreements  as  these  and 
such  publicity  seem  not  only  possible  but  well 
worth  while,  if  through  such  action  that  formi- 
dable dread  of  the  cutting-off  of  food  supplies 
and  raw  materials  can  be  done  away  with.  It 
is  a  hopeful  fact  that  experienced  public  men 
in  various  countries  are  beginning  to  mention 
such  novel  agreements  as  not  inconceivable. 

The  immunity  of  private  property  on  the 
seas  does  not  seem  so  remote  as  it  once  did, 
partly  because  the  recent  comparative  immu- 
nity of  private  property  on  land  during  active 
warfare  has  not  impaired  the  decisiveness  of 
successful  campaigns,  and  partly  because  the 
destruction  of  its  mercantile  marine  has  not 
proved  to  be  in  recent  times,  if  indeed  in  any 
times,  an  effective  mode  of  bringing  a  vigor- 
ous enemy  to  terms.  During  the  Civil  War  of 
1861-65  the  United  States  lost  nearly  all  its 
sea-going  merchant  vessels,  and  has  never  re- 
covered its  former  position  in  the  carrying 
trade  of  the  world ;  but  this  fact  has  had  no 
appreciable  effect  on  the  prosperity  of  the  coun- 
try. Nowadays  any  nation  can  easily  get  all  its 
exports  and  imports  carried  in  foreign  bottoms 


FEAES  CAUSE  COMPETITIVE  ARMING        25 

at  low  competitive  prices.  Moreover,  looting  on 
land  and  privateering  at  sea  are  no  longer  con- 
sidered respectable. 

An  agreement  of  this  nature  with  regard  to 
naval  forces  and  their  international  use  might 
have  a  large  incidental  value.  It  might  show 
the  way  to  organize  an  international  naval  po- 
lice force,  subject  to  the  orders  of  a  permanent 
arbitral  court  of  justice  at  The  Hague.  Other 
kinds  of  force  can  be  imagined  to  secure  the 
execution  of  the  decrees  of  the  court,  as,  for 
instance,  the  refusal  of  credit  to  a  disobedient 
government ;  but  all  experience  seems  to  testify 
that  some  adequate  force  must  lie  behind  an 
international  supreme  court,  as  it  always  has 
behind  every  other  court.  Otherwise  it  may  be 
feared  that  the  court  will  not  command  in  prac- 
tice the  confidence  of  civilized  mankind. 

The  other  chronic  apprehension  which  pre- 
vents the  progress  of  arbitration  methods  and 
the  reduction  of  armaments  is  the  apprehension 
of  sudden  and  overwhelming  invasion  of  na- 
tional territory  by  hostile  land  forces.  This  in- 
cessant apprehension  is  extremely  vivid,  and  is 
liable  to  explosive  increment ;  and  yet  in  this 
matter  the  civilized  world  has  certainly  made 
no  inconsiderable  progress.  To  be  sure,  modern 


26  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

means  of  transportation  by  land  and  water  have 
quickened  the  apprehension,  and  spread  it  over 
•wider  areas ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  the  press, 
frequent  mails,  and  telegraphs  and  telephones 
have  developed  effective  means  of  dispelling 
ignorance,  correcting  misunderstandings,  and 
giving  warning  of  storms  of  passion.  Certain 
distinct  gains  in  respect  to  danger  of  invasion 
are  plainly  to  be  seen. 

First,  no  part  of  the  civilized  world  is  now 
subject  to  sudden  invasion  by  hordes  of  bar- 
barians, armed  as  well,  or  nearly  as  well,  as 
the  people  whose  territory  they  invade.  In  all 
conflicts  with  barbarians  civilization  has  now 
an  immense  advantage  in  respect  to  equipment 
for  fighting.  Secondly,  it  seems  probable  that 
dynastic  wars  will  never  occur  again  in  the  civ- 
ilized world.  Thirdly,  certain  small  European 
states  have  maintained  themselves  successfully 
as  to  their  territory  for  nearly  one  hundred 
years  in  the  presence  of  much  more  powerful 
neighbors,  and  if  the  judgment  of  impartial 
money-lenders  is  to  be  accepted,  the  stable  per 
capita  wealth  of  the  small  states  is  greater  and 
safer  than  that  of  the  larger  states.  In  a  few 
instances,  to  be  sure,  the  generation  now  pass- 
ing off  the  stage  has  witnessed  the  forcible  tak- 


FEARS  CAUSE  COMPETITIVE  ARMING        27 

ing  of  parts  of  the  territory  of  a  small  state  by 
a  larger  one,  and  the  surrender  to  the  victors 
of  portions  of  conquered  territory.  Fourthly, 
the  great  costliness  of  modern  warfare  in  both 
blood  and  treasure  tends  to  prevent  the  out- 
break of  actual  war.  Indeed,  the  costliness  of 
mere  preparation  for  war  has  increased  by  leaps 
and  bounds  during  the  past  twenty  years;  and 
recently  aviation  has  started  expenditure  of  a 
new  sort.  The  masses  of  the  people  begin  to 
realize  that  they  pay  the  costs  of  war;  and  they 
are  not  so  dumb  and  helpless  as  they  used  to 
be.  Hence,  perhaps,  the  encouraging  fact  that 
huge  armies,  ready  for  instant  action,  have  faced 
each  other  in  Europe  for  forty  years  without 
once  coming  into  collision.  Fifthly,  republican 
Switzerland  has  shown  how  the  entire  male 
population  capable  of  bearing  arms  may  be 
trained,  and  held  in  readiness  for  defensive 
warfare/without  abridging  seriously  the  indus- 
trial activities  of  the  people,  and  without  main- 
taining any  standing  army  which  could  be  used 
for  offensive  purposes  outside  the  national  ter- 
ritory. 

These  are  all  good  omens  for  peace  ;  but 
they  afford  no  effectual  security  to  any  Euro- 
pean people  whose  territory  has  not  been  de- 


28       THE  ROAD  TOWAED  PEACE 

dared  neutral  against  the  sudden  invasion  of 
their  territory  by  a  formidable  alien  force  ca- 
pable of  inflicting  immense  losses  and  of  ex- 
torting a  vast  ransom.  The  Swiss  experience, 
however,  is  more  than  an  omen,  for  it  shows 
one  way  of  changing  Europe  from  a  group  of 
fully  armed  camps,  always  ready  for  hostilities 
abroad,  into  a  group  of  peace-expecting  states, 
each  maintaining  a  strong  protective  force,  but 
no  aggressive  force.  Civilized  society  is  still 
founded  on  force,  but  that  force  should  be  a 
protective  force.  In  practice  it  would  be  easier 
for  a  large  state  than  for  a  small  one  to  adopt 
this  excellent  Swiss  method.  Moreover,  the  ter- 
ritories of  large  states  might  be  "  neutralized  " 
by  agreement  as  well  as  the  territories  of  small 
states. 

On  the  whole,  the  only  way  in  which  pro- 
moters of  peace  can  at  this  moment  make  head 
against  the  apprehension  of  invasion  is  to  urge 
the  making  of  arbitration  treaties  which  con- 
tain no  exceptions,  and  the  establishment  of  a 
permanent  court  of  arbitral  justice.  The  reduc- 
tion of  armaments  on  land  must  await  the  es- 
tablishment of  such  a  supreme  court,  unless, 
indeed,  neighboring  nations  by  twos  or  threes 
can  make  local  agreements  for  reduction  analo- 


FEAES  CAUSE  COMPETITIVE  AEMING        29 

gous  to  the  invaluable  arrangement  made  in 
1817  between  tbe  United  States  and  Great 
Britain  concerning  armaments  on  the  Great 
Lakes. 


CHAPTER    IV 

PRESENT  AND  FUTURE  CAUSES  OF  WAR,  ESPE- 
CIALLY IN  THE  ORIENT ALIEN  GOVERN- 
MENT   CHINESE  UNITY  —  JAPANESE  AMBI- 
TIONS  THE  DOMINATION  OF  THE  PACIFIC.1 

ADVOCACY  o£  these  slow-acting  means  of 
preventing  wars  in  the  East  implies  that  within 
the  superintended  areas  the  probable  causes  of 
international  war  have  changed  within  fifty 
years.  Dynastic  and  religious  wars,  and  wars 
in  support  of  despotic  government  are  no 
longer  probable;  and  racial  antipathies  are 
held  in  check  by  the  superintending  European 
powers  in  all  the  countries  to  which  that  super- 
intendence extends.  Thus,  the  Pax  Britannica 
has  practically  put  an  end  to  the  racial  and  re- 
ligious warfare  which  from  time  to  time  deso- 
lated the  Asiatic  countries  over  which  British 
influence  now  extends.  Small  outbreaks  of 
racial  antipathy  or  religious  fanaticism  occur 
locally ;  but  these  are  insignificant  exceptions 

1  Extracts  from  a  report  made  by  Charles  W.  Eliot  to  the 
Trustees  of  the  Carnegie  Endowment  for  International  Peace 
in  1913. 


PRESENT  AND  FUTURE  CAUSES  OF  WAR     31 

to  the  prevailing  tranquillity.  The  fighting 
Great  Britain  has  done  to  establish  and  main- 
tain this  quieting  influence  has  been  fighting 
on  a  small  scale  compared  with  that  which  went 
on  among  European  nations  during  the  nine- 
teenth century,  or  among  Oriental  peoples  in 
many  earlier  centuries,  and  the  Pax  Britannica 
has  therefore  been  a  great  contribution  to  the 
peace  of  the  world. 

It  is  not  only  in  the  East  that  the  probable 
causes  of  international  war  have  lately  changed. 
All  over  the  world,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose 
that  wars  for  dynastic  motives  will  occur  no 
more,  and  that  religious  motives  for  warfare 
will  hereafter  be  incidental  or  secondary  in- 
stead of  primary.  It  is  also  reasonable  to  be- 
lieve that  wars  in  support  of  absolute  monarchs 
and  despotic  government  will  henceforth  be 
unknown,  so  general  is  the  world-wide  move- 
ment toward  constitutional  government  and 
free  institutions  —  a  movement  from  fifty  to 
three  hundred  and  fifty  years  old  among  the 
different  nations  of  the  West,  but  compara- 
tively recent  in  the  East. 

What,  then,  will  be  the  probable  causes  of 
international  war  in  the  future  ? 

The  causes  of  war  in  the  future  are  likely  to 


32  THE  EOAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

be  national  distrusts,  dislikes,  and  apprehen- 
sions, which  have  been  nursed  in  ignorance, 
and  fed  on  rumors,  suspicions,  and  conjectures 
propagated  by  unscrupulous  newsmongers,  un- 
til suddenly  developed  by  some  untoward  event 
into  active  hatred,  or  widespread  alarm  which 
easily  passes  into  panic.  While  the  Eastern  peo- 
ples—  Far  and  Near — will  have  some  causes 
of  their  own  for  war,  because  in  some  instances 
neither  their  geographical  limits  nor  their  gov- 
ernmental institutions  are  as  yet  settled,  among 
the  Western  peoples  the  most  probable  future 
causes  of  war,  in  addition  to  national  antipa- 
thies, will  be  clashing  commercial  or  industrial 
interests,  contests  for  new  markets  and  fresh 
opportunities  for  profitable  investment  of  capi- 
tal, and  possibly,  extensive  migrations  of  la- 
borers. All  modern  governments,  in  which  life, 
liberty,  and  property  are  secured  by  public 
law,  desire  to  extend  the  commerce  and  trade 
of  their  people,  to  develop  their  home  industries 
by  procuring  markets  for  their  products  in 
foreign  lands,  to  obtain  in  comparatively  un- 
occupied or  undeveloped  parts  of  the  earth 
opportunities  for  the  profitable  employment  of 
their  accumulated  capital,  and  to  gain  room 
for  a  possible  surplus  of  population  in  the  fu- 


PRESENT  AND  FUTURE  CAUSES  OF  WAR     33 

ture.  Eastern  and  Western  peoples  alike  feel 
the  desire  for  a  large,  strong  governmental 
unit,  too  formidable  to  be  attacked  from  with- 
out, too  cohesive  to  be  disintegrated  from 
•within.  Both  East  and  West  exhibit  the  mod- 
ern irrepressible  objection  to  alien  rule,  espe- 
cially when  such  rule,  like  that  of  the  Manchus 
or  the  Turks,  produces  poverty  and  desolation, 
denies  liberty,  and  prevents  progress. 

Several  Western  nations,  which  have  the  sav- 
ing, or  accumulating,  habit,  are  eager  to  make 
loans  to  remote  and  comparatively  poor  na- 
tions which  are  in  great  need  of  money  to  pay 
for  costly  public  works  of  transportation,  con- 
servancy, public  health,  and  public  security. 
In  making  such  loans  the  bankers  of  each 
Western  nation  expect  the  support  and  protec- 
tion of  their  own  government.  As  security  for 
such  loans  the  borrowing  government,  national, 
provincial,  or  municipal,  pledges  some  of  its 
resources;  and  if  the  expected  interest  or  divi- 
dend is  not  paid,  the  lender  forecloses.  Hence 
serious  international  complications.  In  this 
lending  business  the  Western  powers  come 
into  competition  with  each  other,  and  stimu- 
lated by  mutual  jealousies,  engage  in  aggres- 
sive operations  against  the  Oriental  peoples, 


36  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

furtherance  of  its  governmental  and  industrial 
changes. 

Through  all  the  Oriental  countries  the  mass 
of  the  people  maintain  a  lower  standard  of  liv- 
ing than  that  of  any  civilized  Western  people, 
whether  European  or  American.  This  is  partly 
a  matter  of  climate  and  of  density  of  popula- 
tion ;  but  it  is  also  a  matter  of  tradition  and 
custom.  When  the  standard  of  living  is  close 
to  the  limits  essential  to  the  maintenance  of 
health  and  bodily  vigor,  natural  catastrophes 
like  droughts,  floods,  earthquakes,  and  pesti- 
lences cause  recurrent  periods  of  immense  hu- 
man misery,  from  which  recovery  is  slow.  The 
misery  of  these  masses  in  turn  seriously  de- 
presses the  courage  or  enterprise  of  the  suffer- 
ing nation,  and  commerce,  trade,  and  manu- 
facturing industries  throughout  the  world, 
particularly  in  those  Oriental  countries  where 
modern  means  of  transportation  and  communi- 
cation have  not  been  adequately  developed. 
Hence,  frequent  interruptions  of  trade,  and  dis- 
orders both  interior  and  exterior ;  and  hence, 
also,  troublesome  migrations.  The  chronic  pov- 
erty of  multitudinous  Oriental  peoples  hinders 
the  desired  development  of  Western  industries 
and  commerce ;  because  the  poverty-stricken 


PRESENT  AND  FUTURE  CAUSES  OF  WAR     37 

millions  cannot  afford  to  buy  the  Western 
goods.  To  prevent  such  widespread  miseries 
and  such  chronic  poverty  would  be  to  remove 
the  cause  of  many  of  the  violences  which  break 
out  from  time  to  time  in  Oriental  communities, 
and  provoke  or  promote  the  intrusion  of  the 
stronger  Western  powers.  Successful  preven- 
tion would  imply  sound  legislation,  efficient 
local  administration,  and  the  liberal  expenditure 
of  money.  Advocacy  of  such  measures  and 
help  in  executing  them  would  promote  peace 
and  good-will.  Here  is  a  great  field  for  West- 
ern benevolence,  skilfully  applying  private  en- 
dowments to  public  uses. 

Some  of  the  worst  dissensions  between  East- 
ern and  Western  peoples  have  been  caused  in 
recent  years  by  the  dense  ignorance  and  gross 
superstitions  of  Oriental  populations.  A  good 
example  of  the  contentions  due  to  these  causes 
is  the  Boxer  insurrection  in  China,  against 
which  several  Western  powers  took  arms  — 
when  their  Legations  were  attacked  —  with 
success  so  far  as  subduing  the  insurrection  and 
procuring  huge  indemnities  from  China  went, 
but  with  deplorable  effects  on  the  disposition 
of  the  Chinese  people  toward  Japan  and  all  the 
Western  powers  that  sent  troops  to  Peking, 


38       THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

•with  the  single  exception  of  the  United  States. 
The  only  real  cure  for  ignorance  and  supersti- 
tion is  universal  education,  and  that  cure  will 
take  time. 

Although  the  causes  of  war  tend  to  become 
commercial  and  industrial,  two  other  world- 
wide causes  of  war  remain  which  are  liable  to 
take  effect  at  any  time  in  both  the  East  and 
the  West.  The  first  is  the  fear  of  sudden  in- 
vasion by  an  overwhelming  force.  This  fear  is 
as  keenly  felt  in  China  and  Japan  as  it  is  in 
Germany,  France,  and  England ;  and  there  are 
no  better  defenses  against  it  in  the  East  than 
in  the  West.  The  neutralization  of  territory 
which  protects  some  of  the  small  European  na- 
tions, like  Switzerland  and  Belgium,  rests  rather 
upon  the  mutual  jealousy  of  the  greater  powers 
than  on  any  established  practice  among  the 
European  peoples,  or  any  trustworthy  sense  of 
expediency  and  justice.  The  nearest  approach 
in  the  East  to  the  practice  of  neutralizing  ter- 
ritory is  the  respect  paid  by  the  larger  European 
powers  to  the  Eastern  possessions  of  smaller 
powers.  Thus,  England  and  France  are  respect- 
ing the  Oriental  possessions  of  The  Netherlands 
and  of  Portugal ;  and  all  nations  are  now  re- 
specting the  outlying  possessions  of  Japan. 


PRESENT  AND  FUTURE  CAUSES  OF  WAR     39 

Whether  the  Eastern  possessions  of  Western 
powers  will  in  the  future  be  transferred  from 
one  nation  to  another  as  a  consequence  of  the 
issue  of  European  conflicts  —  as  they  have  been 
in  the  past  —  is  a  problem  for  the  future.  The 
only  hope  in  the  East,  as  in  the  West,  for  re- 
lief from  this  terrible  apprehension  of  invasion 
lies  in  the  progress  of  international  law,  and  in 
the  spreading  opinion  among  publicists  that 
there  are  better  ways  than  war  to  settle  inter- 
national questions  about  territory,  commercial 
intercourse,  and  sovereignty.  This  is  a  region  in 
which  all  three  divisions  of  the  activities  of  the 
Carnegie  Endowment  for  International  Peace 
are  nearly  concerned  —  Intercourse  and  Edu- 
cation, Economics,  and  International  Law. 

The  other  apprehension  which  may  at  any 
time  become  the  cause  of  war  is  the  fear  lest  the 
supplies  of  food  and  raw  material  which  come 
to  a  country  over  seas  should  be  cut  off.  Such 
insular  countries  as  Great  Britain  and  Japan  are 
peculiarly  subject  to  this  apprehension ;  for  either 
of  them  would  be  seriously  distressed  by  even  a 
short  interruption  of  its  supplies  of  food  and  raw 
material.  Both  these  nations  are  therefore  obliged 
to  maintain  navies  more  powerful  than  any  likely 
to  be  brought  against  them.  Hence  the  immense 


40  THE  EOAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

burdens  of  competitive  naval  armaments.  A  rem- 
edy for  this  apprehension  is,  however,  in  sight. 
The  doctrine  that  private  property  should  be 
exempt  from  capture  at  sea,  as  it  is  already  ex- 
empted from  seizure  -without  compensation  on 
land,  will,  when  adopted  by  a  few  nations  which 
maintain  strong  navies,  relieve  the  nations  adopt/- 
ing it  from  the  dread  lest  their  food  supplies  and 
the  supply  of  raw  materials  for  their  manufactur- 
ing industries  should  be  cut  off,  and  the  export 
of  their  manufactured  goods  be  made  impossible 
or  unsafe.  To  secure  relief  from  this  recurrent 
apprehension  which  prompts  such  exorbitant 
expenditure  on  navies,  it  would  not  be  neces- 
sary that  all  the  nations  of  the  world  should 
adopt  the  doctrine  of  the  exemption  of  private 
property  at  sea  from  capture.  Five  or  six  of  the 
stronger  nations,  adopting  it  and  enforcing  it 
against  all  comers,  could  immediately  secure  re- 
lief for  themselves,  and  for  any  other  nations 
that  chose  to  join  them  in  the  adoption  of  the 
policy.  The  United  States  has  advocated  this 
doctrine  for  many  years ;  but  an  effective  adop- 
tion of  it  has  been  prevented  by  the  reluctance 
of  Great  Britain  to  abandon  the  practice  of  seiz- 
ing upon  the  ocean  private  property  belonging 
to  the  subjects  of  her  enemy.  There  are  some 


PRESENT  AND  FUTURE  CAUSES  OF  WAR     41 

signs  that  Great  Britain  is  approaching  the  con- 
clusion that  she  has  more  to  gain  than  to  lose 
by  the  adoption  of  the  policy  of  exemption. 

A  common  reason  for  the  aggressions  of 
Western  powers  in  Eastern  countries  has  been 
their  desire  to  possess  or  control  ports  in  the 
East  through  which  Western  trade  with  the 
teeming  Oriental  populations  could  be  safely 
conducted.  Great  Britain,  France,  Germany,  and 
The  Netherlands  all  possess  some  ports,  and  in 
China  the  first  three  powers  exercise  a  strong 
control  over  other  ports  by  means  of  treaties 
and  leases  forced  upon  China.  Russia's  keen 
desire  for  better  ports  in  Eastern  waters  than 
she  now  possesses  has  been  a  leading  motive 
in  her  Eastern  policy  for  many  years.  The 
statesmen  of  Japan  felt  that  it  was  absolutely 
necessary  for  her  to  possess  the  ports  of  the 
Korean  peninsula.  When  once  a  nation  gets 
possession  of  ports  which  originally  and  prop- 
erly made  part  of  another  nation's  territory,  the 
possessing  nation  feels  that  it  must  defend  them 
against  all  comers ;  hence  incessant  preparations 
for  war  and  ever-increasing  armaments.  The 
peace  of  the  world  would  be  promoted  if  no 
nation,  Occidental  or  Oriental,  possessed  or  con- 
trolled a  port  on  another  nation's  territory. 


42  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

The  peace  of  the  world  is  also  threatened  by 
the  constant  efforts  of  most  of  the  trading 
nations  to  enlarge  their  territories,  or  "  spheres 
of  influence,"  in  remote  parts  of  the  world, 
whether  sparsely  or  densely  populated.  It  seems 
to  make  little  difference  whether  these  enlarge- 
ments are  likely  to  be  profitable  or  not ;  they 
will  be  acquired  at  a  venture. 

In  Europe  and  America,  the  creation  of  new 
and  large  units  of  government  went  on  actively 
during  the  last  half  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, and  is  still  in  progress  by  natural  growth 
and  new  affiliations.  Among  political  theorists 
doubts  begin  to  be  expressed  about  the  expedi- 
ency of  these  very  large  units  of  national  terri- 
tory and  government.  Evidence  has  been  pro- 
duced that  the  smaller  nations  in  Europe  are 
more  prosperous  than  the  larger ;  perhaps  be- 
cause they  waste  less  on  armies,  navies,  and  arma- 
ments. There  are  those  who  think  that  China 
would  be  better  off  if  Thibet,  Mongolia,  and 
Manchuria  should  be  absorbed  respectively  by 
Great  Britain,  Russia,  and  Japan,  leaving  the 
eighteen  provinces  of  China  proper  as  a  com- 
pact and  manageable  whole.  These  objections  to 
exaggerated  size  still  remain  in  the  region  of 
speculation  and  not  of  practice ;  and  the  desire 


PRESENT  AND  FUTURE  CAUSES  OF  WAR     43 

of  trading  nations  for  more  and  always  more 
territory  remains  a  threatening  source  of  inter- 
national contests. 

Recent  events,  however,  in  both  the  Near  and 
the  Far  East  indicate  clearly  that  the  govern- 
ment of  large  populations  by  an  alien  race  is 
getting  increasingly  difficult,  and  may  in  time 
become  impossible.  The  unrest  in  India,  the 
abdication  of  the  Manchus  in  China,  and  the 
Balkan  war  all  illustrate  the  fact  that  the  govern- 
ment of  large  populations  by  an  alien  authority 
is  likely  to  be  more  and  more  resented  and  ulti- 
mately resisted ;  and  that  no  amount  of  good  will 
and  good  works  by  an  alien  government  will  be 
able  to  overcome  the  opposition  of  native  races 
to  such  a  government,  just  because  it  is  alien. 
Because  of  the  strength  and  vitality  of  this  racial 
sentiment  against  alien  government,  it  is  likely 
that  the  task  of  governing  and  supervising  large 
native  populations  from  a  distance  by  rulers, 
judges,  and  administrators  of  a  very  different 
race  will  prove  to  be  increasingly  troublesome 
and  costly ;  so  that  freedom  of  commerce  and 
trade  will  come  to  be  sought  by  other  means. 

Against  these  formidable  difficulties,  what 
forces  could  the  Provisional  Government  bring 
to  bear  to  unify  China,  and  construct  a  strong, 


44  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

stable  government  for  the  eighteen  federated 
provinces?  These  forces  were  only  sentiments ; 
but  they  were  just  such  sentiments  as  have 
brought  into  being  on  other  continents  firm  and 
enduring  governments.  The  first  was  the  senti- 
ment of  Chinese  nationality;  the  second  was  the 
objection  to  an  alien  government,  that  of  the 
Manchus,  which  was  only  a  sham  government ; 
and  the  third  was  the  sentiment  of  common  re- 
sistance to  the  aggressions  which  the  Western 
powers  had  been  committing  for  a  hundred  and 
fifty  years  on  Chinese  soil. 

The  sentiment  of  nationality  is  vast,  vague, 
and  hard  to  define ;  but  the  history  of  Europe 
and  America  is  full  of  instances  of  its  tremen- 
dous potency.  It  does  not  seem  to  need  a  com- 
mon language,  or  a  pure  race,  or  a  smooth  blend 
of  somewhat  different  races,  or  the  same  climate, 
or  identity  of  the  sources  of  livelihood.  It  is  not 
necessarily  based  on  similar  histories,  common 
traditions,  or  even  the  same  religion.  If  we  may 
judge  from  European  and  American  experience, 
the  sentiment  of  nationality  is  based  on  similar 
social  standards  or  needs,  on  common  ideals,  on 
like  passions  good  and  bad,  on  a  love  of  inde- 
pendence and  liberty,  on  a  preference  for  a  large, 
comprehensive  governmental  unit  over  a  small 


THE  SENTIMENT  OF  NATIONALITY         45 

one,  and  on  the  desire  to  resist  common  dan- 
gers, wrongs,  or  aggressions  from  without.  This 
last  desire  is  very  unifying  the  world  over.  Ex- 
perience of  misgovernment  tends  to  unite  the 
misgoverned,  just  as  an  earthquake,  a  destruc- 
tive storm,  a  conflagration,  or  a  flood  always 
brings  out  in  many  of  the  sufferers  a  very  prac- 
tical brotherliness.  Such  seem  to  be  the  sources 
of  the  present  development  among  the  Chinese 
of  a  potent  sentiment  of  nationality. 

When  several  races  live  side  by  side  on  the 
same  soil  and  form  a  community,  it  often  hap- 
pens that  the  ideals  of  one  of  these  races  domi- 
nate the  development  of  all.  This  result  has 
often  been  conspicuous  in  history,  and  is  still 
exemplified  in  the  present  life  of  certain  nations 
to  which  several  different  racial  elements  have 
contributed  without  being  blended.  The  most 
essential  element  in  the  modern  idea  of  nation- 
ality is  identity  of  ideals,  and  of  customs  which 
are  the  offspring  of  ideals. 

I  have  already  mentioned  in  this  report  the 
growth  in  many  regions  of  the  world  of  the  ob- 
jection to  alien  government  as  such.  It  appears 
on  a  small  scale  and  a  large,  in  barbarous  and 
semi-barbarous  countries,  and  in  countries  which 
have  long  been  civilized.  It  may  be  successfully 


46  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

repressed  for  long  periods,  though  recognized. 
It  may  be  long  concealed  by  multitudes  who  feel 
it  hotly ;  but  it  tends  more  and  more  through- 
out the  world  to  break  out  at  last,  and  win  the 
day. 

The  motive  of  resistance  to  foreign  oppression 
works  wonders  toward  the  formation  of  new 
national  units,  as  has  been  forcibly  illustrated 
in  Europe  during  the  past  year.  All  China  has 
had  such  bitter  experience  of  oppression  and 
robbery  on  the  part  of  Western  nations,  that 
she  inevitably  possesses  a  strong  unifying  force 
in  this  common  sense  of  unjust  suffering. 

All  the  enterprising  Occidental  nations  are 
interested  in  determining  accurately  what  the 
desires  and  ambitions  of  the  Japanese  people 
really  are.  The  Japanese  have  proved  by  their 
achievements  during  the  past  forty-five  years 
that  as  a  race  they  possess  fine  physical,  mental, 
and  moral  qualities.  They  possess  in  high  de- 
gree intelligence,  inventiveness,  commercial  and 
industrial  enterprise,  persistence,  and  the  moral 
qualities  which  bring  success  in  industries  and 
commerce.  They  have  learnt  and  put  into  prac- 
tice all  the  Occidental  methods  of  warfare  on 
sea  and  land,  and  have  proved  that  they  can 
face  in  battle  not  only  the  yellow  races,  but  the 


THE  DESIRES  AND  AMBITIONS  OF  JAPAN     47 

•white.  Are  they  then  a  dangerous  or  a  safe  ad- 
dition to  the  world's  group  of  national  industrial 
and  commercial  competitors?  Is  their  demon- 
strated strength  dangerous  to  the  peace  of  the 
world  and  to  the  white  race?  To  answer  these 
questions,  it  is  indispensable  to  form  a  clear  and 
just  idea  of  Japanese  desires  and  ambitions. 

The  Japanese  are  not  a  numerous  people ;  for 
they  number  less  than  one  half  the  population 
of  the  United  States.  They  are  not  a  colonizing 
people.  The  Japanese  Government  has  had 
great  difficulty  in  inducing  Japanese  to  settle 
in  Formosa,  and  at  the  present  moment  it  has 
similar  difficulties  in  Korea  and  Manchuria. 
To  be  sure,  the  climate  of  Formosa  is  too  hot 
for  the  Japanese ;  but  that  of  Korea  and  Man- 
churia resembles  that  of  Japan.  They  are  com- 
mercially adventurous,  and  will  travel  far  and 
wide  as  pedlers,  or  in  search  of  work  and  trade ; 
but  they  are  not  colonists.  They  are  a  homing 
people,  like  the  French.  They  have  no  more 
use  for  the  Philippines  than  Americans  have. 
If  a  Japanese  trader  makes  money  in  a  foreign 
country,  he  will  take  his  family  and  his  money 
back  to  Japan  as  soon  as  he  can.  They  do  not 
intermarry  with  women  of  any  foreign  race, 
affording  thus  a  strong  contrast  to  the  white 


48       THE  BOAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

race  "when  in  foreign  parts.  The  inexpedient 
crossing  of  unlike  races  will  not  be  promoted 
by  them  in  any  part  of  the  world. 

The  Japanese  are  not  a  warlike  people,  al- 
though within  a  few  years  they  have  waged  two 
defensive  wars,  one  with  China  and  the  other 
with  Russia.  They  possess,  indeed,  admirable 
martial  qualities,  and  make  obedient,  tough, 
and  courageous  soldiers  in  their  country's  ser- 
vice. Their  fundamental  motive  in  fighting, 
however,  is  not  a  natural  love  of  it,  such  as  is 
exhibited,  or  used  to  be  exhibited,  by  some  Occi- 
dental peoples,  but  a  simple,  profound  loyalty 
to  their  country,  and  to  the  authoritative  repre- 
sentatives of  their  country's  power  and  will.  In 
their  intense  patriotism  pride,  loyalty,  and  love 
are  fused  into  a  sentiment  which  completely 
dominates  the  private  soldier,  the  officer,  and 
the  whole  military  and  naval  service.  Still  they 
are  not  an  aggressive,  conquering  people ;  and 
they  feel  no  motive  for  acquiring  new  territory, 
except  near-by  territory  which  they  believe  to 
be  necessary  to  the  security  of  their  island 
empire. 

The  Japanese  are  accused,  chiefly  by  Occi- 
dental army  and  navy  men,  of  intending  to 
"  dominate  the  Pacific  " ;  but  Japan  has  no  such 


THE  DESIRES  AND  AMBITIONS  OF  JAPAN     49 

intention.  All  Japanese  statesmen  and  political 
philosophers  recognize  the  fact  that  Japan  is, 
and  always  will  be,  unable  to  "dominate  the 
Pacific."  No  one  nation  in  the  world  could  pos- 
sibly control  the  Pacific  Ocean.  For  that  pur- 
pose a  combination  of  at  least  four  powers  hav- 
ing strong  navies  would  be  necessary.  Five  or 
six  powers  combined,  such,  for  example,  as 
Great  Britain,  Germany,  France,  the  United 
States,  Japan,  and  Russia  or  Italy,  could  do  it ; 
and  could  at  the  same  time  dominate  all  the 
other  oceans  and.  seas.  Such  a  group  would 
possess  ports  and  coaling  stations  on  all  the  seas 
and  oceans.  It  would  be  convenient,  though  not 
indispensable,  if  one  strong  South  American 
government  on  the  Atlantic  Coast  and  one  on 
the  Pacific  Coast  joined  the  group.  There  are 
many  who  think  a  control  of  the  oceans  by 
such  a  combination  would  be  desirable ;  because 
it  would  tend  to  remove  some  of  the  apprehen- 
sions which  cause  war  and  preparation  for  war, 
and  to  check  in  their  early  stages  offenses  com- 
mitted or  contemplated  by  one  nation  against 
another. 

All  Japanese  leaders  are  fully  aware  that  it 
would  be  impossible  for  either  Japan  or  the 
United  States  to  send  an  army  of  a  hundred 


60  THE  BOAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

thousand  men  with  their  baggage,  animals, 
stores,  and  munitions,  across  the  Pacific  Ocean 
in  safety,  although  the  fleet  should  be  convoyed 
by  scores  of  battleships  and  armored  cruisers. 
The  means  of  attack  at  night  by  almost  invisible 
vessels  on  a  wide-extended  fleet  in  motion  are 
quite  adequate  to  arrest  or  destroy  any  such 
expedition,  if  the  attacking  force  were  even  tol- 
erably alert  and  vigorous.  If  by  miracle  such 
an  army  should  effect  a  landing  on  either  shore, 
it  could  achieve  nothing  significant,  unless  the 
first  expedition  should  be  immediately  followed 
by  a  second  and  a  third.  The  scale  of  modern 
warfare  between  nations  is  too  large  for  such 
remote  expeditions,  —  no  matter  what  the  re- 
sources of  the  nation  that  should  be  rash  enough 
to  attempt  them. 

Japan,  being  heavily  burdened  with  debts  in- 
curred in  carrying  on  her  wars  with  China  and 
Kussia  and  making  internal  improvements,  could 
not  borrow  the  money  necessary  in  these  days 
for  waging  aggressive  war  on  a  large  scale  at 
a  distance,  although  she  might  fight  success- 
fully on  the  defensive  at  or  near  home.  That 
much  she  could  doubtless  do,  as  many  other 
poor  nations  have  done ;  but  her  financial  con- 
dition is  such  that  she  will  be  prevented  from 


THE  DESIRES  AND  AMBITIONS  OF  JAPAN     51 

engaging-  in  offensive  war  for  at  least  a  genera- 
tion to  come.  Moreover,  all  the  capital  which 
Japanese  merchants,  manufacturers,  and  finan- 
ciers can  possibly  accumulate  during  the  next 
thirty  years,  is  urgently  needed  for  the  execution 
of  public  works  and  the  expansion  of  industrial 
undertakings  at  home.  The  industrial  and  com- 
mercial interests  of  Japan  require  peace  with  all 
the  other  nations  of  the  world.  As  Count  Te- 
rauchi  said  to  me  at  Seoul,  "  There  is  no  interest 
of  Japan  which  could  possibly  be  promoted  by 
war  with  the  United  States  or  any  other  nation ; 
and  conversely,  there  is  no  interest  of  the  United 
States  which  could  possibly  be  promoted  by  war 
with  Japan. "  Such,  as  I  have  said  before,  was  the 
opinion  of  every  Japanese  statesman  and  man 
of  business  with  whom  I  talked  in  the  summer 
of  1912;  and  many  of  these  gentlemen  said 
that  they  had  never  met  any  Japanese  political 
or  commercial  leader  who  was  not  of  that  opin- 
ion. The  entire  commerce  between  Japan  and 
the  United  States  is  for  the  mutual  advantage 
of  each  country,  and  the  United  States  is  Japan's 
best  customer.  War  between  the  two  countries 
is  not  to  be  thought  of;  and  to  suppose  that 
Japan  would  commit  an  act  of  aggression  against 
the  United  States  which  would  necessarily  cause 


52       THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

war  is  wholly  unreasonable,  fantastic,  and  fool- 
ish,—  the  product  of  a  morbid  and  timorous 
imagination. 

Japanese  statesmen  are  not  in  favor  of  any 
extensive  migrations  of  Japanese  people  to  other 
lands.  They  want  Japanese  emigrants  from  their 
native  islands  to  settle  in  neighboring  Japanese 
territories.  They  hold  that  the  Japanese  home 
industries  need  all  the  labor  the  population  can 
furnish.  Japanese  economists  greatly  prefer  to 
the  planting  of  Japanese  capital  or  labor  in  for- 
eign lands  the  recent  methods  of  planting  foreign 
capital  in  Japan.  When  an  American  corpora- 
tion, which  is  conducting  at  home  a  successful 
industry,  sells  its  patents  and  methods  to  a  body 
of  Japanese  capitalists,  and  then  takes  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  the  stocks  and  bonds  of  the 
Japanese  company,  American  capital  finds  a 
profitable  investment,  the  Japanese  laborers  re- 
main at  home,  and  the  product  of  Japanese  in- 
dustry is  sold  to  advantage  in  the  markets  of 
the  world.  Japan  wants  foreign  markets  for  its 
manufactured  products.  War,  or  any  other  ac- 
tion or  event  which  interrupts  commercial  re- 
lations with  other  countries  is  adverse  to  Japan- 
ese interests. 

The  right  state  of  mind  of  Americans  towards 


THE  DESIRES  AND  AMBITIONS  OF  JAPAN     53 

Japan  is  one  of  hearty  good-will  and  cordial 
admiration.  Japan  should  receive  every  privi- 
lege in  the  United  States  which  the  "most 
favored  nation  "  possesses ;  and  that  is  all  Japan 
wants  from  the  United  States,  except  the  respect 
due  to  its  achievements,  and  to  the  physical, 
intellectual,  and  moral  qualities  which  have 
made  these  achievements  possible.  All  classes 
in  Japan,  the  uneducated  as  well  as  the  educated, 
the  poor  as  well  as  the  rich,  are  sensitive  about 
being  treated,  or  thought  of,  as  if  they  were  a 
backward,  semi-civilized,  untrustworthy  people. 
They  wish  to  be  regarded  as  a  worthy  member 
of  the  family  of  civilized  nations. 

Wars  and  preparations  for  war  continue,  be- 
cause many  of  the  causes  of  war  in  time  past 
continue  to  exist.  The  Occidental  peoples  have 
for  several  centuries  fought  oftener  and  harder 
than  the  Oriental ;  and  the  Christianity  which 
prevails  among  them  has  little,  if  any,  tendency 
to  prevent  their  fighting  among  themselves, 
sometimes  with  ferocity,  or  to  prevent  them 
from  attacking  non-Christian  peoples,  if  they 
think  it  their  interest  to  do  so.  The  Eastern 
peoples,  Far  and  Near,  as  has  been  already 
mentioned,  will  have  some  causes  of  their  own 
for  war;  because  in  some  important  instances 


54  THE  EOAD  TOWABD  PEACE 

neither  their  geographical  limits  nor  their  gov- 
ernmental institutions  are  as  yet  settled.  One 
Eastern  people  has  recently  acquired  the  whole 
of  the  Occidental  art  of  war  with  its  subsidiary 
sciences,  and  other  Eastern  peoples  are  on  the 
way  to  the  same  acquisition.  War  will  last  until 
its  causes  are  rooted  out,  and  that  extirpation 
will  prove  a  slow  and  hard  task.  The  Carnegie 
Endowment  for  International  Peace  is  just  enter- 
ing, therefore,  on  labors  which  will  last  for  gen- 
erations. Its  reliance  must  be  on  the  slow-acting 
forces  of  education,  sanitation,  and  conservation, 
on  the  promotion  of  mutual  acquaintance  and 
advantageous  commercial  intercourse  with  the 
resultant  good-will  among  nations,  and  on  the 
steady,  patient  use  of  the  civilizing  agencies 
which  humane  democracy  and  applied  science 
have  invented  and  set  at  work  within  the  past 
hundred  years. 

From  the  observations  recorded  in  the  above 
Report,  certain  inferences  may  be  drawn  con- 
cerning profitable  expenditures  for  the  promo- 
tion of  international  peace  by  the  Division  of 
Intercourse  and  Education  of  the  Carnegie  En- 
dowment for  International  Peace.  It  may  be 
safely  inferred  that  action  in  any  of  the  follow- 
ing directions  will  bring  nearer  the  coming  of 


HOW  TO  BRING  PEACE  NEARER  55 

peace:  —  (1)  Create  or  support  agencies  compe- 
tent to  reduce,  relieve,  or  prevent,  so  far  as  is 
each  day  possible,  the  wrongs,  miseries,  and 
illusions  which  have  caused,  and  are  still  causing, 
wars.  (2)  Strengthen  public  opinion  in  favor  of 
publicity  in  governmental  and  commercial  trans- 
actions. (3)  Suspect  and  probe  all  secrecies 
and  hidings  in  the  family,  in  industries,  in  legis- 
lation, and  in  administration.  Oppressions  and 
robberies  are  generally  concocted  in  secret.  It  is 
one  of  the  worst  consequences  of  long-continued 
and  severe  oppression,  that  the  resistance  to  it 
and  revolution  must  be  nursed  in  secret.  In- 
quire, bring  light,  and  publish.  (4)  Cultivate 
in  all  nations  trusteeship,  public  spirit,  and  the 
application  of  private  money  to  public  uses. 
(5)  Create  or  foster,  in  addition  to  universal 
elementary  education,  permanent  educational 
agencies  such  as  libraries,  hospitals,  dispensa- 
ries, training-schools  for  nurses,  and  technical 
and  professional  schools  in  countries  which  lack 
these  instrumentalities.  (6)  Recognize  frankly 
the  present  necessity  of  maintaining  in  all  coun- 
tries armed  forces  for  protective  duty  against 
aggression  from  without,  or  disintegration  from 
within.  (7)  Strengthen  international  public 
opinion  in  favor  of  an  international  naval  force 


56        THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

to  secure  peace  and  order  on  the  seas,  and  a 
freedom  that  cannot  be  interrupted  for  water- 
borne  commerce.  (8)  Foster  those  religious 
sentiments  and  those  economic,  industrial,  and 
political  principles  which  manifestly  tend  to 
purify  and  strengthen  family  life,  and  to  secure 
liberty,  domestic  joys,  public  tranquillity,  and 
the  people's  health,  morality,  and  general  well- 
being. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE     GREAT     EUROPEAN     WAR  —  ITS     CAUSES, 

SCOPE,     AND     OBJECTS WHAT     GAINS     FOR 

MANKIND    CAN    COME    OUT    OF    IT1 

THE  American  people  without  distinction  of 
party  are  highly  content  with  the  action  of  their 
National  Administration  on  all  the  grave  prob- 
lems presented  to  the  Government  by  the  sudden 
outbreak  of  long-prepared  war  in  Europe  —  a 
war  which  already  involves  five  great  states  and 
two  small  ones.  They  heartily  approve  of  the 
action  of  the  Administration  on  mediation,  neu- 
trality, aid  to  Americans  in  Europe,  discour- 
agement of  speculation  in  foods,  and,  with  the 
exception  of  extreme  protectionists,  admission 
to  American  registry  of  foreign-built  ships ; 
although  the  legislation  on  the  last  subject, 
which  has  already  passed  Congress,  is  mani- 
festly inadequate. 

Our  people  cannot  see  that  the  war  will  nec- 
essarily be  short,  and  they  cannot  imagine  how 
it  can  last  long.  They  realize  that  history  gives 

1  A  letter  published  in  the  New  York  Times  of  September  2, 
1914. 


58  TEE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

no  example  of  such  a  general  interruption  of 
trade  and  all  other  international  intercourse  as 
has  already  taken  place,  or  of  such  a  stoppage 
of  the  production  and  distribution  of  the  neces- 
saries of  life  as  this  war  threatens.  They  shud- 
der at  the  floods  of  human  woe  which  are  about 
to  overwhelm  Europe. 

Hence,  thinking  Americans  cannot  help  re- 
flecting on  the  causes  of  this  monstrous  outbreak 
of  primitive  savagery  —  part  of  them  come  down 
from  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries 
and  part  developed  in  the  nineteenth — and 
wondering  what  good  for  mankind,  if  any,  can 
possibly  come  out  of  the  present  cataclysm. 

The  whole  people  of  the  United  States, 
without  regard  to  racial  origin,  are  of  one  mind 
in  hoping  that  mankind  may  gain  out  of  this 
prodigious  physical  combat,  which  uses  for  pur- 
poses of  destruction  and  death  all  the  new  forces 
of  nineteenth-century  applied  science,  some  new 
liberties  and  new  securities  in  the  pursuit  of 
happiness ;  but  at  this  moment  they  can  cherish 
only  a  remote  hope  of  such  an  issue.  The  mili- 
tary force  which  Austria-Hungary  and  Germany 
are  now  using  on  a  prodigious  scale,  and  with 
long-studied  skill,  can  only  be  met  by  similar 
military  force,  and  this  resisting  force  is  sum- 


EARLY  LESSONS  FEOM  THE  WAR  59 

moned  more  slowly  than  that  of  Austria-Hun- 
gary and  Germany;  although  the  ultimate 
battalions  will  be  heavier.  In  this  portentous 
physical  contest  the  American  people  have  no 
part ;  their  geographical  position,  their  historical 
development,  and  their  political  ideals  combine 
to  make  them  for  the  present  mere  spectators; 
although  their  interests  —  commercial,  indus- 
trial, and  political  —  are  deeply  involved.  For 
the  moment,  the  best  thing  our  Government  can 
do  is  to  utilize  all  existing  neutrality  rights, 
and,  if  possible,  to  strengthen  or  develop  those 
rights ;  for  out  of  this  war  ought  to  come  more 
neutral  states  in  Europe,  and  greater  security 
for  neutralized  territory. 

The  chances  of  getting  some  gains  for  man- 
kind out  of  this  gigantic  struggle  will  be  some- 
what increased  if  the  American  people,  and  all 
other  neutral  peoples,  arrive  through  public 
discussion  at  some  clear  understanding  of  the 
causes  and  the  possible  and  desirable  issues  of 
the  war,  and  the  sooner  this  public  discussion 
begins,  and  the  more  thoroughly  it  is  pursued, 
the  sounder  will  probably  be  the  tendencies  of 
public  sentiment  outside  of  the  contending 
nations,  and  the  conclusions  which  the  peace 
negotiations  will  ultimately  reach. 


60  THE  EOAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

When  one  begins,  however,  to  reflect  on  the 
probable  causes  of  the  sudden  lapse  of  the  most 
civilized  parts  of  Europe  into  worse  than  primi- 
tive savagery,  he  comes  at  once  on  two  old  and 
widespread  evils  in  Europe  from  which  America 
has  been  exempt  for  at  least  one  hundred  and 
fifty  years.  The  first  is  secret  diplomacy  with 
power  to  make  issues  and  determine  events,  and 
the  second  is  autocratic  national  executives  who 
can  swing  the  whole  physical  force  of  the  na- 
tion to  this  side  or  that  without  consulting  the 
people  or  their  representatives. 

The  actual  catastrophe  proves  that  secret  ne- 
gotiations, like  those  habitually  conducted  on 
behalf  of  the  "  Concert  of  Europe,"  and  alliances 
between  selected  nations,  the  terms  of  which  are 
secret,  or,  at  any  rate,  not  publicly  stated,  can- 
not avert  in  the  long  run  outrageous  war,  but 
can  only  produce  postponements  of  war,  or  short 
truces.  Free  institutions,  like  those  of  the  United 
States,  take  the  public  into  confidence,  because 
all  important  movements  of  the  Government 
must  rest  on  popular  desires,  needs,  and  voli- 
tions. Autocratic  institutions  have  no  such  ne- 
cessity for  publicity.  This  Government  secrecy 
as  to  motives,  plans,  and  purposes  must  often 
be  maintained  by  disregarding  truth,  fair  deal- 


EARLY  LESSONS  FROM  THE  WAR  61 

ing,  and  honorable  obligations,  in  order  that, 
when  the  appeal  to  force  comes,  one  Govern- 
ment may  secure  the  advantage  of  taking  the 
other  by  surprise.  Duplicity  during  peace  and 
the  breaking  of  treaties  during  war  come  to  be 
regarded  as  obvious  military  necessities. 

The  second  great  evil,  under  which  certain 
large  nations  of  Europe  —  notably  Russia,  Ger- 
many, and  Austria-Hungary  —  have  long  suf- 
fered and  still  suffer,  is  the  permanent  na- 
tional executive,  independent  of  popular  control 
through  representative  bodies,  holding  strong 
views  about  rights  of  birth  and  religious  sanc- 
tions of  its  authority,  and  really  controlling  the 
national  forces  through  some  small  council  and 
a  strong  bureaucracy.  So  long  as  executives  of 
this  sort  endure,  so  long  will  civilization  be 
liable  to  such  explosions  as  have  taken  place 
this  August,  though  not  always  on  so  vast  a 
scale. 

Americans  now  see  these  things  more  clearly 
than  European  lovers  of  liberty,  because  Ameri- 
cans are  detached  from  the  actual  conflicts  by 
the  Atlantic,  and  because  Americans  have  had 
no  real  contact  with  the  feudal  or  the  imperial 
system  for  nearly  three  hundred  years.  Pilgrim 
and  Puritan,  Covenanter  and  Quaker,  Lutheran 


62  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

and  Catholic  alike  left  the  feudal  system  and 
autocratic  government  behind  them  when  they 
crossed  the  Atlantic.  Americans,  therefore,  can- 
not help  hoping  that  two  results  of  the  present 
war  will  be  :  (1)  The  abolition  of  secret  diplo- 
macy and  secret  understandings,  and  the  sub- 
stitution therefor  of  treaties  publicly  discussed 
and  sanctioned,  and  (2)  the  creation  of  national 
executives  —  emperors,  sultans,  kings,  or  presi- 
dents —  which  cannot  use  the  national  forces 
in  fight  until  a  thoroughly  informed  national 
assembly,  acting  with  deliberation,  has  agreed 
to  that  use. 

The  American  student  of  history  since  the 
middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  sees  clearly 
two  strong  though  apparently  opposite  ten- 
dencies in  Europe :  First,  the  tendency  to  the 
creation  and  maintenance  of  small  states  such 
as  those  which  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  (1648) 
recognized  and  for  two  centuries  secured  in  a 
fairly  independent  existence,  and,  secondly,  a 
tendency  from  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century  toward  larger  national  units,  created  by 
combining  several  kindred  states  under  one  ex- 
ecutive. This  second  tendency  was  illustrated 
strongly  in  the  case  of  both  Germany  and  Italy, 
although  the  Prussian  domination  in  Germany 


EARLY  LESSONS  FROM  THE  WAS  68 

has  no  parallel  in  Italy.  Somewhat  earlier  in 
the  nineteenth  century  the  doctrine  of  the  neu- 
tralization of  the  territories  of  small  states  was 
established  as  firmly  as  solemn  treaties  could 
do  it.  The  larger  national  units  had  a  more  or 
less  federative  quality,  the  components  yielding 
some  of  their  functions  to  a  central  power,  but 
retaining  numerous  independent  functions.  This 
tendency  to  limited  unification  is  one  which 
Americans  easily  understand  and  appreciate. 
We  believe  in  the  federative  principle,  and  must 
therefore  hope  that  out  of  the  present  European 
horror  will  come  a  new  development  of  that  prin- 
ciple, and  new  security  for  small  states  which  are 
capable  of  guaranteeing  to  their  citizens  "  life, 
liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness  "  —  a  secu- 
rity which  no  citizen  of  any  European  country 
seems  to-day  to  possess. 

Some  of  the  underlying  causes  of  the  horri- 
ble catastrophe  the  American  people  are  now 
watching  from  afar  are  commercial  and  eco- 
nomic. Imperial  Germany's  desire  for  colonies 
in  other  continents  —  such  as  Great  Britain 
and  France  secured  earlier  as  a  result  of  keen 
commercial  ambitions  —  is  intense.  Prussia's 
seizure  of  Schleswig  in  1864-65  had  the  com- 
mercial motive ;  and  it  is  with  visions  of  ports 


62       THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

and  Catholic  alike  left  the  feudal  system  and 
autocratic  government  behind  them  when  they 
crossed  the  Atlantic.  Americans,  therefore,  can- 
not help  hoping  that  two  results  of  the  present 
war  will  be  :  (1)  The  abolition  of  secret  diplo- 
macy and  secret  understandings,  and  the  sub- 
stitution therefor  of  treaties  publicly  discussed 
and  sanctioned,  and  (2)  the  creation  of  national 
executives  —  emperors,  sultans,  kings,  or  presi- 
dents —  which  cannot  use  the  national  forces 
in  fight  until  a  thoroughly  informed  national 
assembly,  acting  with  deliberation,  has  agreed 
to  that  use. 

The  American  student  of  history  since  the 
middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  sees  clearly 
two  strong  though  apparently  opposite  ten- 
dencies in  Europe :  First,  the  tendency  to  the 
creation  and  maintenance  of  small  states  such 
as  those  which  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  (1648) 
recognized  and  for  two  centuries  secured  in  a 
fairly  independent  existence,  and,  secondly,  a 
tendency  from  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century  toward  larger  national  units,  created  by 
combining  several  kindred  states  under  one  ex- 
ecutive. This  second  tendency  was  illustrated 
strongly  in  the  case  of  both  Germany  and  Italy, 
although  the  Prussian  domination  in  Germany 


EARLY  LESSONS  FROM  THE  WAR  68 

has  no  parallel  in  Italy.  Somewhat  earlier  in 
the  nineteenth  century  the  doctrine  of  the  neu- 
tralization of  the  territories  of  small  states  was 
established  as  firmly  as  solemn  treaties  could 
do  it.  The  larger  national  units  had  a  more  or 
less  federative  quality,  the  components  yielding 
some  of  their  functions  to  a  central  power,  but 
retaining  numerous  independent  functions.  This 
tendency  to  limited  unification  is  one  which 
Americans  easily  understand  and  appreciate. 
We  believe  in  the  federative  principle,  and  must 
therefore  hope  that  out  of  the  present  European 
horror  will  come  a  new  development  of  that  prin- 
ciple, and  new  security  for  small  states  which  are 
capable  of  guaranteeing  to  their  citizens  "  life, 
liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness  "  —  a  secu- 
rity which  no  citizen  of  any  European  country 
seems  to-day  to  possess. 

Some  of  the  underlying  causes  of  the  horri- 
ble catastrophe  the  American  people  are  now 
watching  from  afar  are  commercial  and  eco- 
nomic. Imperial  Germany's  desire  for  colonies 
in  other  continents  —  such  as  Great  Britain 
and  France  secured  earlier  as  a  result  of  keen 
commercial  ambitions  —  is  intense.  Prussia's 
seizure  of  Schleswig  in  1864-65  had  the  com- 
mercial motive ;  and  it  is  with  visions  of  ports 


64  THE  EOAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

on  the  North  Sea  that  Germany  justifies  her 
present  occupation  of  Belgium.  The  Russians 
have  for  generations  desired  to  extend  their 
national  territory  southward  to  the  ^Egean  and 
the  Bosphorus,  and  eastward  to  good  harbors 
on  the  Pacific.  Lately  they  pushed  into  Mon- 
golia and  Manchuria,  but  were  resisted  success- 
fully by  Japan.  Austria-Hungary  has  long  been 
seeking  ports  on  the  Adriatic,  and  lately  seized 
without  warrant  Herzegovina  and  Bosnia  to 
promote  her  approach  toward  the  ^gean,  and 
is  now  trying  to  seize  Serbia  with  the  same  ends 
in  view.  With  similar  motives  Italy  lately  de- 
scended on  Tripoli,  without  any  excuse  except 
this  intense  desire  for  colonies  —  profitable  or 
unprofitable.  On  the  other  hand,  the  American 
people,  looking  to  the  future  as  well  as  to  the 
past,  object  to  acquisitions  of  new  territory  by 
force  of  arms;  and  since  the  twentieth  century 
opened  they  have  twice  illustrated  in  their 
own  practice  —  first  in  Cuba,  and  then  in  Mex- 
ico—  this  democratic  objection.  They  believe 
that  extensions  of  national  territory  should  be 
brought  about  only  with  the  indubitable  con- 
sent of  the  majority  of  the  people  most  nearly 
concerned.  They  also  believe  that  commerce 
should  always  be  a  means  of  promoting  good- 


EARLY  LESSONS  FROM  TEE   WAR  65 

will,  and  not  ill-will,  among  men,  and  that  all 
legitimate  and  useful  extensions  of  the  com- 
merce of  a  manufacturing  and  commercial  na- 
tion may  be  procured  through  the  policy  of  the 
"  open  door "  —  which  means  nothing  more 
than  that  all  nations  should  be  allowed  to  com- 
pete on  equal  terms  for  the  trade  of  any  foreign 
people,  whether  backward  or  advanced  in  civil- 
ization. No  American  Administration  has  ac- 
cepted a  "  concession  "  of  land  in  China.  They 
also  believe  that  peaceable  extensions  of  terri- 
tory and  trade  will  afford  adequate  relief  from 
the  economic  pressure  on  a  population  too  large 
for  the  territory  it  occupies,  and  that  there  is 
no  need  of  forcible  seizure  of  territory  to  secure 
relief.  It  is  inevitable,  therefore,  that  the  Amer- 
ican people  should  hope  that  one  outcome  of 
the  present  war  should  be  —  no  enlargement 
of  a  national  territory  by  force  or  without  the 
free  consent  of  the  population  to  be  annexed, 
and  no  colonization  except  by  peaceable  com- 
mercial and  industrial  methods. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  and  far-reaching 
effects  of  the  present  outbreak  of  savagery  is 
likely  to  be  the  conviction  it  carries  to  the 
minds  of  thinking  people  that  the  whole  pro- 
cess of  competitive  armaments,  the  enlistment 


66  THE  EOAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

of  the  entire  male  population  in  national  armies, 
and  the  incessant  planning  of  campaigns  against 
neighbors,  is  not  a  trustworthy  method  for  pre- 
serving peace.  It  now  appears  that  the  military 
preparations  of  the  last  fifty  years  in  Europe 
have  resulted  in  the  most  terrific  war  of  all 
time,  and  that  a  fierce  ultimate  outbreak  is  the 
only  probable  result  of  the  system.  For  the 
future  of  civilization  this  is  a  lesson  of  high 
value.  It  teaches  that  if  modern  civilization  is 
to  be  preserved,  national  executives  —  whether 
imperial  or  republican  —  must  not  have  at  their 
disposal  immense  armaments  and  drilled  armies 
held  ready  in  the  leash;  that  armaments  must 
be  limited,  an  international  supreme  court  estab- 
lished, national  armies  changed  to  the  Swiss 
form,  and  an  international  force  adequate  to 
deal  with  any  nation  that  may  suddenly  become 
lawless  agreed  upon  by  treaty  and  held  always 
in  readiness.  The  occasional  use  of  force  will 
continue  to  be  necessary  even  in  the  civilized 
world ;  but  it  must  be  made  not  an  aggressive, 
but  a  protective,  force,  and  used  as  such  —  just 
as  protective  force  has  to  be  used  sometimes  in 
families,  schools,  cities,  and  commonwealths. 

At  present,  Americans  do  not  close  their  eyes 
to  the  plain  fact  that  the  brute  force  which  Ger- 


EARLY  LESSONS  FROM  THE  WAR  67 

many  and  Austria-Hungary  are  now  using  can 
only  be  overcome  by  brute  force  of  the  same 
sort  in  larger  measure.  It  is  only  when  negotia- 
tions for  peace  begin  that  the  great  lesson  of 
the  futility  of  huge  preparations  for  fighting  to 
preserve  peace  can  be  given  effect.  Is  it  too  much 
to  expect  that  the  whole  civilized  world  will  take 
to  heart  the  lessons  of  this  terrible  catastrophe, 
and  cooperate  to  prevent  the  recurrence  of  such 
losses  and  woes  ?  Should  Germany  and  Austria- 
Hungary  succeed  in  their  present  undertak- 
ings, the  civilized  nations  would  be  obliged  to 
bear  continuously,  and  to  an  ever-increasing 
amount,  the  burdens  of  great  armaments,  and 
would  live  in  constant  fear  of  sudden  invasion, 
now  here,  now  there  —  a  terrible  fear,  against 
which  neither  treaties  nor  professions  of  peace- 
able intentions  would  offer  the  least  security. 

It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  the  whole 
military  organization,  which  has  long  been  com- 
pulsory on  the  nations  of  continental  Europe, 
is  inconsistent  in  the  highest  degree  with  Amer- 
ican ideals  of  individual  liberty  and  social  prog- 
ress. Democracies  can  fight  with  ardor,  and 
sometimes  with  success,  when  the  whole  people 
is  moved  by  a  common  sentiment  or  passion ; 
but  the  structure  and  discipline  of  a  modern 


68       THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

army  like  that  of  Germany,  Austria-Hungary, 
or  Russia  has  a  despotic  or  autocratic  quality 
which  is  inconsistent  with  the  fundamental 
principles  of  democratic  society.  To  make  war 
in  countries  like  France,  Great  Britain,  and  the 
United  States  requires  the  widespread,  simul- 
taneous stirring  of  the  passions  of  the  people 
on  behalf  of  their  own  ideals.  This  stirring  re- 
quires publicity  before  and  after  the  declaration 
of  war  and  public  discussion ;  and  the  delays 
which  discussion  causes  are  securities  for  peace. 
Out  of  the  present  struggle  should  come  a 
check  on  militarism  —  a  strong  revulsion  against 
the  use  of  force  as  means  of  settling  interna- 
tional disputes. 

It  must  also  be  admitted  that  it  is  impossible 
for  the  American  people  to  sympathize  with  the 
tone  of  the  imperial  and  royal  addresses  which, 
in  summoning  the  people  to  war,  use  such 
phrases  as  "  My  monarchy,"  "  My  loyal  peo- 
ple," or  "  My  loyal  subjects  " ;  for  there  is  im- 
plied in  such  phrases  a  dynastic  or  personal 
ownership  of  peoples  which  shocks  the  average 
American.  Americans  inevitably  think  that  the 
right  way  for  a  ruler  to  begin  an  exhortation 
to  the  people  he  rules  is  President  Wilson's 
way  —  "My  fellow  countrymen." 


EARLY  LESSONS  FROM  THE  WAR     69 

It  follows  from  the  very  existence  of  these 
American  instincts  and  hopes  that,  although  the 
people  of  the  United  States  mean  to  maintain 
faithfully  a  legal  neutrality,  they  are  not,  and 
cannot  be,  neutral  or  indifferent  as  to  the  ulti- 
mate outcome  of  this  titanic  struggle.  It  already 
seems  to  them  that  England,  France,  and  Rus- 
sia are  fighting  for  freedom  and  civilization.  It 
does  not  follow  that  thinking  Americans  will 
forget  the  immense  services  which  Germany 
has  rendered  to  civilization  during  the  last  hun- 
dred years,  or  desire  that  her  power  to  serve 
letters,  science,  art,  and  education  should  be  in 
the  least  abridged  in  the  outcome  of  this  war, 
upon  which  she  has  entered  so  rashly  and  self- 
ishly, and  in  so  barbarous  a  spirit.  Most  edu- 
cated Americans  hope  and  believe  that  by  de- 
feating the  German  barbarousness  the  Allies 
will  only  promote  the  noble  German  civilization. 

The  presence  of  Russia  in  the  combination 
against  Germany  and  Austria-Hungary  seems 
to  the  average  American  an  abnormal  phenom- 
enon ;  because  Russia  is  itself  a  military  mon- 
archy with  marked  territorial  ambitions;  and 
its  civilization  is  at  a  more  elementary  stage 
than  that  of  France  or  England ;  but  he  resists 
present  apprehension  on  this  score  by  recalling 


70  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

that  Russia  submitted  to  the  "  Concert  of  Eu- 
rope "  when  her  victorious  armies  were  within 
seventeen  miles  of  Constantinople,  that  she 
emancipated  her  serfs,  proposed  the  Hague 
Conferences,  initiated  the  "  Douma,"  and  has 
lately  offered — perhaps  as  war  measures  only 
—  autonomy  to  her  Poles  and  equal  rights  of 
citizenship  to  her  Jews.  He  also  cannot  help 
believing  that  a  nation  which  has  produced  such 
a  literature  as  Russia  has  produced  during  the 
last  fifty  years  must  hold  within  its  multitudi- 
nous population  a  large  minority  which  is  seeth- 
ing with  high  aspirations  and  a  fine  idealism. 

For  the  clarification  of  the  public  mind  on 
the  issues  involved,  it  is  important  that  the 
limits  of  American  neutrality  should  be  dis- 
cussed and  understood.  The  action  of  the  Gov- 
ernment must  be  neutral  in  the  best  sense  j  but 
American  sympathies  and  hopes  cannot  possi- 
bly be  neutral;  for  the  whole  history  and  pres- 
ent state  of  American  liberty  forbids.  For  the 
present,  thinking  Americans  can  only  try  to 
appreciate  the  scope  and  real  issues  of  this 
formidable  convulsion,  and  so  be  ready  to  seize 
every  opportunity  that  may  present  itself  to 
further  the  cause  of  human  freedom,  and  of 
peace  at  last. 


CHAPTER  VI 

TRUE  NATIONAL  GREATNESS ARE  ITS  FOUN- 
DATIONS IMPERIALISM  OR  DEMOCRACY,  FIGHT- 
ING POWER  OR  SOLEMN  PUBLIC  COMPACTS?1 

THERE  is  nothing  new  in  the  obsession  of  the 
principal  European  nations  that,  in  order  to  be 
great  and  successful  in  the  world  as  it  is,  they 
must  possess  military  power  available  for  instant 
aggression  on  weak  nations,  as  well  as  for  ef- 
fective defence  against  strong  ones. 

When  Sir  Francis  Bacon  wrote  his  essay  on 
"  The  True  Greatness  of  Kingdoms  and  Estates," 
he  remarked  that  forts,  arsenals,  goodly  races 
of  horses,  armaments,  and  the  like  would  all  be 
useless  "  except  the  breed  and  disposition  of  the 
people  be  stout  and  warlike."  He  denied  that 
money  is  the  sinews  of  war,  giving  preference 
to  the  sinews  of  men's  arms,  and  quoted  Solon's 
remark  to  Croesus,  "  Sir,  if  any  other  come  that 
hath  better  iron  than  you,  he  will  be  master  of 
all  this  gold  "  —  a  truly  Bismarckian  proposi- 
tion. Indeed,  Sir  Francis  Bacon  says  explicitly 

1  A  letter  published  in  the  New  York  Times  of  Sept.  22, 
T914. 


72  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

that  "  the  principal  point  of  greatness  in  any 
state  is  to  have  a  race  of  military  men." 

Goethe,  reflecting  on  the  wretchedness  of  the 
German  people  as  a  whole,  found  no  comfort 
in  the  German  genius  for  science,  literature,  and 
art,  or  only  a  miserable  comfort  which  "  does  not 
make  up  for  the  proud  consciousness  of  belong- 
ing to  a  nation  strong,  respected,  and  feared." 
Because  Germany  in  his  time  was  weak  in  the 
military  sense,  he  could  write :  "  I  have  often 
felt  a  bitter  grief  at  the  thought  of  the  German 
people,  which  is  so  noble  individually,  and  so 
wretched  as  a  whole  ";  and  he  longed  for  the  day 
when  the  national  spirit,  kept  alive  and  hopeful, 
should  be  "  ready  to  rise  in  all  its  might,  when 
the  day  of  glory  dawns." 

"  The  day  of  glory  "  was  to  be  the  day  of 
military  power.  Carlyle  said  of  Germany  and 
France  in  November,  1870,  "that  noble,  pa- 
tient, deep,  pious,  and  solid  Germany  should 
be  at  length  welded  into  a  nation,  and  become 
Queen  of  the  Continent,  instead  of  vaporing, 
vainglorious,  gesticulating,  quarrelsome,  rest- 
less, and  oversensitive  France,  seems  to  me  the 
hopef ullest  public  fact  that  has  occurred  in  my 
time."  How  did  Germany  attain  to  this  posi- 
tion of  "  Queen  of  the  Continent "  ?  By  creat- 


TRUE  NATIONAL  GREATNESS  73 

ing  and  maintaining,  with  utmost  intelligence 
and  skill,  the  strongest  army  in  Europe  —  an 
army,  which,  within  six  years,  had  been  used 
successfully  against  Denmark,  Austria,  and 
France.  Germany  became  "  Queen  "  by  virtue 
of  her  military  power. 

In  the  same  paper,  Carlyle  said  of  the  French 
Revolution,  of  which  he  was  himself  the  great 
portrayer,  "  I  often  call  that  a  celestial  infernal 
phenomenon,  the  most  memorable  in  our  world 
for  a  thousand  years;  on  the  whole,  a  tran- 
scendent revolt  against  the  devil  and  his  works 
(since  shams  are  all  and  sundry  of  the  devil, 
and  poisonous  and  unendurable  to  man)."  Now, 
the  French  Revolution  was  an  extraordinary 
outbreak  of  passionate  feeling  and  physical  vio- 
lence on  the  part  of  the  French  nation,  both  at 
home  and  abroad ;  and  it  led  on  to  the  Napo- 
leonic wars,  which  were  tremendous  physical 
struggles  for  mastery  in  Europe. 

In  a  recent  public  statement  two  leading 
philosophical  writers  of  modern  Germany,  Pro- 
fessors Eucken  and  Haeckel,  denounce  the 
"brutal  national  egoism"  of  England,  which, 
they  say,  "recognizes  no  rights  on  the  part  of 
others,  and,  unconcerned  about  morality  or  un- 
morality,  pursues  only  its  own  advantage  ";  and 


74  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

they  attribute  to  England  the  purpose  to  hinder 
at  any  cost  the  further  growth  of  German 
greatness.  But  what  are  the  elements  of  that 
German  greatness  which  England  is  determined 
to  arrest  by  joining  France  and  Russia  in  war 
against  Germany  and  Austria-Hungary?  The 
three  elements  of  recent  German  greatness  are 
the  extension  of  her  territory  —  contiguous 
territories  in  Europe  and  in  other  continents 
colonial  possessions ;  the  enlargement  of  Ger- 
man commerce  and  wealth;  and  to  these  ends 
the  firm  establishment  of  her  military  suprem- 
acy in  Europe.  These  are  the  ideas  on  the  true 
greatness  of  nations  which  have  prevailed  in 
the  ruling  oligarchy  of  Germany  for  at  least 
sixty  years,  and  now  seem  to  have  been  ac- 
cepted, or  acquiesced  in,  by  the  whole  German 
people.  In  this  view,  the  foundation  of  national 
greatness  is  fighting  power. 

This  conception  of  national  greatness  has 
prevailed  at  many  different  epochs,  —  Macedo- 
nian, Roman,  Saracen,  Spanish,  English,  and 
French,  —  and,  indeed,  has  appeared  from  time 
to  time  in  almost  all  the  nations  and  tribes  of 
the  earth ;  but  the  civilized  world  is  now  look- 
ing for  better  foundations  of  national  greatness 
than  force  and  fighting. 


TRUE  NATIONAL  GREATNESS  75 

The  partial  successes  of  democracy  in  Eu- 
rope have  much  increased  the  evils  of  war.  Sir 
Francis  Bacon  looked  for  a  fighting  class ;  un- 
der the  feudal  system  when  a  baron  went  to 
war  he  took  with  him  his  vassals,  or  that  por- 
tion of  them  that  could  be  spared  from  the 
fields  at  home.  Universal  conscription  is  a  mod- 
ern invention,  the  horrors  of  which,  as  now 
exhibited  in  Russia,  Germany,  Austria-Hun- 
gary, and  France,  much  exceed  those  of  earlier 
martial  methods.  There  has  never  been  such  an 
interruption  of  agricultural  and  industrial  pro- 
duction, or  such  a  rending  of  family  ties  in  con- 
sequence of  war  as  is  now  taking  place  in  the 
greater  part  of  Europe.  Moreover,  mankind  has 
never  before  had  the  use  of  such  destructive 
implements  as  the  machine  gun,  the  torpedo, 
and  the  dynamite  bomb.  The  progress  of  sci- 
ence has  much  increased  the  potential  destruc- 
tiveness  of  warfare. 

Thinking  people  in  all  the  civilized  countries 
are  asking  themselves  what  the  fundamental 
trouble  with  civilization  is,  and  where  to  look 
for  means  of  escape  from  the  present  intolerable 
conditions.  Christianity  in  nineteen  centuries 
has  afforded  no  relief.  The  so-called  mitigations 
of  war  are  comparatively  trivial.  The  recent 


76       THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

Balkan  wars  were  as  ferocious  as  those  of  Alex- 
ander. The  German  aviators  drop  aimless  bombs 
at  night  into  cities  occupied  chiefly  by  non- 
combatants.  The  North  Sea  is  strewn  with  float- 
ing mines  which  may  destroy  fishing,  freight, 
or  passenger  vessels  of  any  nation,  neutral  or 
belligerent,  which  have  business  on  that  sea. 
The  ruthless  destruction  of  the  Louvain  Library 
by  German  soldiers  reminds  people  who  have 
read  history  that  the  destroyers  of  the  Alexan- 
dria Library  have  ever  since  been  called  fanat- 
ics and  barbarians.  The  German  army  tries  to 
compel  unfortified  Belgian  cities  and  towns  to 
pay  huge  ransoms  to  save  themselves  from  de- 
struction—  a  method  which  the  Barbary  States, 
indeed,  were  accustomed  to  use  against  their 
Christian  neighbors,  but  which  has  long  been 
held  to  be  appropriate  only  for  brigands  and 
pirates  —  Greek,  Sicilian,  Syrian,  or  Chinese. 

How  can  it  be  that  the  Government  of  a  civ- 
ilized state  commits,  or  permits  in  its  agents, 
such  barbarities  ?  The  fundamental  reason  seems 
to  be  that  most  of  the  European  nations  still 
believe  that  national  greatness  depends  on  the 
possession  and  brutal  use  of  force,  and  is  to  be 
maintained  and  magnified  only  by  military  and 
naval  power. 


TRUE  NATIONAL  GREATNESS  77 

In  North  America  there  are  two  large  com- 
munities —  heretofore  inspired  chiefly  by  ideals 
of  English  origin  —  which  have  never  main- 
tained conscripted  armies,  and  have  never  forti- 
fied against  each  other  their  long  frontier  — 
Canada  and  the  United  States.  Both  may  fairly 
be  called  great  peoples  even  now ;  and  both  give 
ample  promise  for  the  future.  Neither  of  these 
peoples  lacks  the  "  stout  and  warlike  "  quality 
of  which  Sir  Francis  Bacon  spoke ;  both  have 
often  exhibited  it.  The  United  States  suffered 
for  four  years  from  a  civil  war,  characterized 
by  determined  fighting  in  indecisive  battles,  in 
which  the  losses,  in  proportion  to  the  number 
of  men  engaged,  were  often  much  heavier  than 
any  thus  far  reported  from  the  present  battle- 
fields in  Belgium  and  France.  There  being,  then, 
no  lack  of  martial  spirit  in  these  two  peoples, 
it  is  an  instructive  phenomenon  that  power  to 
conquer  is  not  their  ideal  of  national  greatness. 
Much  the  same  thing  may  be  said  of  some  other 
self-governing  constituents  of  the  British  Em- 
pire, such  as  Australia,  New  Zealand,  and  South 
Africa.  They,  too,  have  a  better  ideal  of  na- 
tional greatness  than  that  of  military  suprem- 
acy. 

What  are  the  real  ambitions  and  hopes  of  the 


78  THE  EOAD  TOWAED  PEACE 

people  of  the  United  States  and  the  people  o£ 
Canada  in  regard  to  their  own  future  ?  Their 
expectations  of  greatness  certainly  are  not  based 
on  any  conception  of  invincible  military  force, 
or  desire  for  the  physical  means  of  enforcing 
their  own  will  on  their  neighbors.  They  both 
believe  in  the  free  commonwealth,  administered 
justly,  and  with  the  purpose  of  securing  for 
each  individual  all  the  freedom  he  can  exercise 
without  injury  to  his  neighbors  and  the  collec- 
tive well-being.  They  desire  for  themselves,  each 
for  itself,  a  strong  government,  equipped  to 
perform  its  functions  with  dignity,  certainty, 
and  efficiency ;  but  they  wish  to  have  that  gov- 
ernment under  the  control  of  the  deliberate  pub- 
lic opinion  of  free  citizens,  and  not  under  the 
control  of  any  Praetorian  Guard,  Oligarchic 
Council,  or  General  Staff,  and  they  insist  that 
the  civil  authority  should  always  control  such 
military  and  police  forces  as  it  may  be  necessary 
to  maintain  for  protective  purposes. 

They  believe  that  the  chief  object  of  govern- 
ment should  be  the  promotion  of  the  public  wel- 
fare by  legislative  and  administrative  means ; 
that  the  processes  of  government  should  be  open 
and  visible,  and  their  results  be  incessantly  pub- 
lished for  approval  or  disapproval.  They  believe 


TRUE  NATIONAL  GREATNESS  79 

that  a  nation  becomes  great  through  industrial 
productiveness  and  the  resulting  internal  and 
external  commerce,  through  the  gradual  in- 
crease of  comfort  and  general  well-being  in  the 
population,  and  through  the  advancement  of 
science,  letters,  and  art.  They  believe  that  edu- 
cation, free  intercourse  with  other  nations,  and 
religious  enthusiasm  and  toleration  are  means 
of  national  greatness,  and  that  in  the  develop- 
ment and  use  of  these  means  force  has  no  place. 
They  attribute  national  greatness  in  others,  as 
well  as  in  themselves,  not  to  the  possession  of 
military  force,  but  to  the  advance  of  the  people 
in  freedom,  industry,  righteousness,  and  good- 
will. 

They  believe  that  the  ideals  of  fighting  power 
and  domination  should  be  replaced  by  the  ideals 
of  peaceful  competition  in  production  and  trade, 
of  generous  rivalry  in  education,  scientific  dis- 
covery, and  the  fine  arts,  of  cooperation  for 
mutual  benefit  among  nations  different  in  size, 
natural  abilities,  and  material  resources,  and  of 
federation  among  nations  associated  geograph- 
ically or  historically,  or  united  in  the  pursuit 
of  some  common  ends  and  in  the  cherishing  of 
like  hopes  and  aspirations.  They  think  that  the 
peace  of  the  world  can  be  best  promoted  by  sol- 


80  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

emn  public  compacts  between  peoples  —  not 
princes  or  cabinets  —  compacts  made  to  be  kept, 
strengthened  by  mutual  services  and  good  of- 
fices, and  watched  over  by  a  permanent  inter- 
national judicial  tribunal  authorized  to  call  on 
the  affiliated  nations  for  whatever  force  may  be 
necessary  to  induce  obedience  to  its  decrees. 

Will  not  the  civilized  world  learn  from  this 
horrible  European  war  —  the  legitimate  result 
of  the  policies  of  Bismarck  and  his  associates 
and  disciples — that  these  democratic  ideals  con- 
stitute the  rational  substitute  for  the  imperial- 
istic ideal  of  fighting  force  as  the  foundation  of 
national  greatness?  The  new  ideals  will  still 
need  the  protection  and  support,  both  within 
and  without  each  nation,  of  a  restrained  public 
force,  acting  under  law,  national  and  interna- 
tional, just  as  a  sane  mind  needs  as  its  agent  a 
sound  and  strong  body.  Health  and  vigor  will 
continue  to  be  the  safeguards  of  morality,  jus- 
tice and  mercy. 


CHAPTER  VH 

SOME  GROUNDS  FOR  AMERICAN  SYMPATHY  WITH 
MODERN  GERMANY WHY  AMERICAN  OPIN- 
ION FAVORS  THE  ALLIES  IN  THE  GREAT  WAR 
THE  MOST  FAVORABLE  ISSUE  OF  THE  WAR l 

THE  numerous  pamphlets  which  German  writ- 
ers are  now  distributing  in  the  United  States, 
and  the  many  letters  about  the  European  war 
which  Americans  are  now  receiving  from  Ger- 
man and  German-American  friends,  are  con- 
vincing thoughtful  people  in  this  country  that 
American  public  opinion  has  some  weight  with 
the  German  Government  and  people,  or,  at  least, 
some  interest  for  them ;  but  that  the  reasons 
which  determine  American  sympathy  with  the 
Allies,  rather  than  with  Germany  and  Austria- 
Hungary,  are  not  understood  in  Germany,  and 
are  not  always  appreciated  by  persons  of  Ger- 
man birth  who  have  lived  long  in  the  United 
States. 

It  would  be  a  serious  mistake  to  suppose  that 
Americans  feel  any  hostility  or  jealousy  toward 

1  A  letter  published  in  the  New  York  Times  of  October  2, 
1914. 


82  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

Germany,  or  fail  to  recognize  the  immense  ob- 
ligations under  which  she  has  placed  all  the  rest 
of  the  world ;  although  they  now  feel  that  the 
German  nation  has  been  going  wrong  in  theo- 
retical and  practical  politics  for  more  than  a 
hundred  years,  and  is  to-day  reaping  the  conse- 
quences of  her  own  wrong-thinking  and  wrong- 
doing. 

There  are  many  important  matters  concern- 
ing which  American  sympathy  is  strongly  with 
Germany :  (1)  The  unification  of  Germany, 
which  Bismarck  and  his  co-workers  accom- 
plished, naturally  commended  itself  to  Ameri- 
cans, whose  own  country  is  a  firm  federation  of 
many  more  or  less  different  States,  containing 
more  or  less  different  peoples.  While  most 
Americans  did  not  approve  Bismarck's  methods 
and  means,  they  cordially  approved  his  accom- 
plishment of  German  unification.  (2)  Americans 
have  felt  unqualified  admiration  for  the  com- 
mercial and  financial  growth  of  Germany  during 
the  past  forty  years,  believing  it  to  be  primarily 
the  fruit  of  well-directed  industry  and  enter- 
prise. (3)  All  educated  Americans  feel  strong 
gratitude  to  the  German  nation  for  its  extraor- 
dinary achievements  in  letters,  science,  and  edu- 
cation within  the  last  hundred  years.  Jealousy 


GROUNDS  FOR  SYMPATHY  WITH  GERMANY     83 

of  Germany  in  these  matters  is  absolutely  for- 
eign to  American  thought,  and  that  any  external 
power  or  influence  should  undertake  to  restrict 
or  impair  German  progress  in  these  respects 
would  seem  to  all  Americans  intolerable,  and, 
indeed,  incredible.  (4)  All  Americans  who  have 
had  any  experience  in  governmental  or  educa- 
tional administration  recognize  the  fact  that 
German  administration — both  in  peace  and  in 
war  —  is  the  most  efficient  in  the  world ;  and 
for  that  efficiency  they  feel  nothing  but  respect 
and  admiration,  unless  the  efficiency  requires  an 
inexpedient  suppression  or  restriction  of  indi- 
vidual liberty.  (5)  Americans  sympathize  with 
a  unanimous  popular  sentiment  in  favor  of  a  war 
which  the  people  believe  to  be  essential  to  the 
greatness,  and  even  the  safety,  of  their  country 
—  a  sentiment  which  prompts  to  family  and 
property  sacrifices  very  distressing  at  the  mo- 
ment, and  irremediable  in  the  future ;  and  they 
believe  that  the  German  people  are  inspired  to- 
day by  just  such  an  overwhelming  sentiment. 
How  is  it,  then,  that,  with  all  these  strong 
American  feelings  tending  to  make  them  sym- 
pathize with  the  German  people  in  good  times 
or  bad,  in  peace  or  in  war,  the  whole  weight  of 
American  opinion  is  on  the  side  of  the  Allies 


84  THE  EOAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

in  the  present  war  ?  The  reasons  are  to  be  found, 
of  course,  in  the  political  and  social  history  of 
the  American  people,  and  in  its  governmental 
philosophy  and  practice  to-day.  These  reasons 
have  come  out  of  the  past,  and  are  entrenched 
in  all  the  present  ideals  and  practices  of  the 
American  Commonwealth.  They  inevitably  lead 
Americans  to  object  strongly  and  irrevocably 
to  certain  German  national  practices  of  great 
moment,  practices  which  are  outgrowths  of 
Prussian  theories  and  experiences  that  have 
come  to  prevail  in  Germany  during  the  past 
hundred  years.  In  the  hope  that  American  pub- 
lic opinion  about  the  European  war  may  be  a 
little  better  understood  abroad,  it  seems  worth 
while  to  enumerate  those  German  practices 
which  do  not  conform  to  American  standards 
in  the  conduct  of  public  affairs :  — 

(1)  Americans  object  to  the  committal  of  a 
nation  to  grave  measures  of  foreign  policy  by 
a  permanent  executive  —  czar,  kaiser,  or  king 
—  advised  in  secret  by  professional  diplomatists 
who  consider  themselves  the  personal  represen- 
tatives of  their  respective  sovereigns.  The 
American  people  have  no  permanent  executive, 
and  the  profession  of  diplomacy  hardly  exists 
among  them.  In  the  conduct  of  their  national 


AMERICAN  OPINION  AND  THE  ALLIES      85 

affairs  they  utterly  distrust  secrecy,  and  are 
accustomed  to  demand  and  secure  the  utmost 
publicity. 

(2)  They  object  to  placing  in  any  ruler's 
hands  the  power  to  order  mobilization  or  de- 
clare war  in  advance  of  deliberate  consultation 
with  a  representative  assembly,  and  of  coopera- 
tive action  thereby.    The   fact  that  German 
mobilization  was  ordered  three  days  in  advance 
of  the  meeting  of  the  Reichstag  confounds  all 
American  ideas  and  practices  about  the  rights 
of  the  people  and  the  proper  limits  of  the  ex- 
ecutive authority. 

(3)  The  secrecy  of  European  diplomatic  in- 
tercourse and  of  international  understandings 
and  terms  of  alliance  in  Europe  is  in  the  view 
of  ordinary  Americans  not  only  inexpedient, 
but  dangerous  and  unjustifiable.    Under  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  no  treaty  ne- 
gotiated by  the  President  and  his  Cabinet  is 
valid  until  it  has  been  publicly  discussed  and 
ratified  by  the  Senate.  During  this  discussion 
the  people  can  make  their  voice  heard  through 
the  press,  the  telegraph,  and  the  telephone. 

(4)  The  reliance  on  military  force  as  the 
foundation  of  true  national  greatness  seems  to 
thinking  Americans  erroneous,  and  in  the  long 


86       THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

run  degrading  to  a  Christian  nation.  They  con- 
ceive that  the  United  States  may  fairly  be  called 
a  great  nation ;  but  that  its  greatness  is  due  to 
intellectual  and  moral  forces  acting  through 
adequate  material  forces,  and  expressed  in  edu- 
cation, public  health  and  order,  agriculture, 
manufacturing,  and  commerce,  and  the  result- 
ing general  well-being  of  the  people.  It  has 
never  in  all  its  history  organized  what  could  be 
called  a  standing  or  a  conscripted  army ;  and, 
until  twenty  years  ago,  its  navy  was  very  small, 
considering  the  length  of  its  seacoasts.  There 
is  nothing  in  the  history  of  the  American  peo- 
ple to  make  them  believe  that  the  true  greatness 
of  nations  depends  on  military  power. 

(5)  They  object  to  the  extension  of  national 
territory  by  force,  contrary  to  the  wishes  of 
the  population  concerned.  This  objection  is 
the  inevitable  result  of  democratic  institutions; 
and  the  American  people  have  been  faithful 
to  this  democratic  opinion  under  circumstances 
of  considerable  difficulty  —  as,  for  example,  in 
withdrawing  from  Cuba,  the  rich  island  which 
had  been  occupied  by  American  troops  during 
the  short  war  with  Spain  (1898),  and  in  the 
refusing  to  intervene  by  force  in  Mexico  for 
the  protection  of  American  investors,  when 


87 

that  contiguous  country  was  distracted  by  fac- 
tional fighting.  This  objection  applies  to  long- 
past  acts  of  the  German  Government,  as  well 
as  to  its  proceedings  in  the  present  war  —  as, 
for  example,  to  the  taking  of  Schleswig-Holstein 
and  Alsace-Lorraine,  as  well  as  to  the  projected 
annexation  of  Belgium. 

(6)  Americans  object  strenuously  to  the  vio- 
lation of  treaties  between  nations  on  the  alle- 
gation of  military  necessity,  or  for  any  other 
reason  whatever.  They  believe  that  the  prog- 
ress of  civilization  will  depend  in  future  on  the 
general  acceptance  of  the  sanctity  of  contracts 
or  solemn  agreements  between  nations,  and  on 
the  development  by  common  consent  of  inter- 
national law.  The  neutralization  treaties,  the 
arbitration  treaties,  the  Hague  Conferences, 
and  some  of  the  serious  attempts  at  mediation, 
although  none  of  them  go  far  enough,  and 
many  of  them  have  been  rudely  violated  on 
occasion,  illustrate  a  strong  tendency  in  the 
civilized  parts  of  the  world  to  prevent  inter- 
national wars  by  means  of  agreements  deliber- 
ately made  in  time  of  peace.  The  United  States 
has  proposed  and  made  more  of  these  agree- 
ments than  any  other  power,  has  adhered  to 
them,  and  profited  by  them.  Under  one  such 


88       THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

agreement,  made  nearly  a  hundred  years  ago, 
Canada  and  the  United  States  have  avoided 
forts  and  armaments  against  each  other,  al- 
though they  have  had  serious  differences  of 
opinion  and  clashes  of  interests,  and  the  fron- 
tier is  three  thousand  miles  long  and  for  the 
most  part  without  natural  barriers.  Cherishing 
the  hope  that  the  peace  of  Europe  and  the 
rights  of  its  peoples  may  be  secured  through 
solemn  compacts  (which  should  include  the 
establishment  of  a  permanent  international 
judicial  tribunal,  supported  by  an  international 
force),  Americans  see,  in  the  treatment  by  the 
German  Government  of  the  Belgium  neutral- 
ization treaty  as  nothing  but  a  piece  of  paper 
which  might  be  torn  up  on  the  ground  of  mili- 
tary necessity,  evidence  of  the  adoption  by 
Germany  of  a  retrograde  policy  of  the  most 
alarming  sort.  That  single  act  on  the  part  of 
Germany  —  the  violation  of  the  neutral  terri- 
tory of  Belgium  —  would  have  determined 
American  opinion  in  favor  of  the  Allies,  if  it 
had  stood  alone  by  itself  —  the  reason  being 
that  American  hopes  for  the  peace  and  order 
of  the  world  are  based  on  the  sanctity  of 
treaties. 

(7)  American  public  opinion,  however,  has 


AMERICAN  OPINION  AND  THE  ALLIES      89 

been  greatly  shocked  in  other  ways  by  the 
German  conduct  of  the  war.  The  American 
common  people  see  no  justification  for  the 
dropping  of  bombs,  to  which  no  specific  aim 
can  be  given,  into  cities  and  towns  chiefly  in- 
habited by  non-combatants,  the  burning  or 
blowing  up  of  large  portions  of  unfortified 
towns  and  cities,  the  destruction  of  precious 
monuments  and  treasuries  of  art,  the  strewing 
of  floating  mines  through  the  North  Sea,  the 
exacting  of  ransoms  from  cities  and  towns 
under  threat  of  destroying  them,  and  the  hold- 
ing of  unarmed  citizens  as  hostages  for  the 
peaceable  behavior  of  a  large  population  under 
threat  of  summary  execution  of  the  hostages 
in  case  of  any  disorder.  All  these  seem  to 
Americans  unnecessary,  inexpedient,  and  un- 
justifiable methods  of  warfare,  sure  to  breed 
hatred  and  contempt  toward  the  nation  that 
uses  them,  and  therefore  to  make  it  difficult  for 
future  generations  to  maintain  peace  and  order 
in  Europe.  They  cannot  help  imagining  the 
losses  civilization  would  suffer  if  the  Russians 
should  ever  carry  into  Western  Europe  the 
kind  of  war  which  the  Germans  are  now  wag- 
ing in  Belgium  and  France.  They  have  sup- 
posed that  war  was  to  be  waged  in  this  century 


90  THE  EOAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

only  against  public  armed  forces  and  their 
supplies  and  shelters. 

These  opinions  and  prepossessions  on  the 
part  of  the  American  people  have  obviously 
grown  out  of  the  ideals  which  the  early  English 
colonists  carried  with  them  to  the  American 
wilderness  in  the  seventeenth  century,  out  of 
the  long  fighting  and  public  discussion  which 
preceded  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  in  the  eighteenth  century, 
and  out  of  the  peculiar  experiences  of  the  free 
Commonwealths  which  make  up  the  United 
States,  as  they  have  spread  across  the  almost 
uninhabited  continent  during  the  past  hundred 
and  twenty-five  years. 

The  experience  and  the  situation  of  modern 
Germany  have  been  utterly  different.  Germany 
was  divided  for  centuries  into  discordant  parts, 
had  ambitious  and  martial  neighbors,  and  often 
felt  the  weight  of  their  attacks.  Out  of  war 
came  accessions  of  territory  for  Prussia,  and  at 
last  German  unity.  The  reliance  of  intelligent 
and  patriotic  Germany  on  military  force  as  the 
basis  of  national  greatness  is  a  natural  result 
of  its  experiences.  Americans,  however,  be- 
lieve that  this  reliance  is  unsound  both  theo- 
retically and  practically.  The  wars  in  Europe 


AMERICAN  OPINION  AND  THE  ALLIES      91 

since  1870-71,  the  many  threatenings  of  war, 
and  the  present  catastrophe  seem  to  Americans 
to  demonstrate  that  no  amount  of  military 
preparedness  on  the  part  of  the  nations  of 
Europe  can  possibly  keep  the  peace  of  the 
Continent,  or  indeed  prevent  frequent  explo- 
sions of  destructive  warfare.  They  think,  too, 
that  preparation  for  war  on  the  part  of  Ger- 
many better  than  any  of  her  neighbors  can 
make  will  not  keep  her  at  peace  or  protect  her 
from  invasion,  even  if  this  better  preparation 
include  advantages  of  detail  which  have  been 
successfully  kept  secret.  All  the  nations  which 
surround  Germany  are  capable  of  developing  a 
strong  fighting  spirit ;  and  all  the  countries  of 
Europe,  except  England  and  Russia,  possess 
the  means  of  quickly  assembling  and  getting 
into  action  great  bodies  of  men.  In  other 
words,  all  the  European  states  are  capable 
of  developing  a  passionate  patriotism,  and  all 
possess  the  railroads,  roads,  conveyances,  tele- 
graphs, and  telephones  which  make  rapid  mo- 
bilization possible.  No  perfection  of  military 
forces,  and  no  amount  of  previous  study  of 
feasible  campaigns  against  neighbors,  can  give 
peaceful  security  to  Germany  in  the  present 
condition  of  the  great  European  states.  In  the 


92  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

actual  development  of  weapons  and  munitions, 
and  of  the  art  of  quick  entrenching,  the  attack- 
ing force  in  battle  on  land  is  at  a  great  disad- 
vantage in  comparison  with  the  force  on  the 
defensive.  That  means  indecisive  battles  and 
ultimately  an  indecisive  war,  unless  each  party 
is  resolved  to  push  the  war  to  the  utter  exhaus- 
tion and  humiliation  of  the  other  —  a  long 
process  which  involves  incalculable  losses  and 
wastes,  and  endless  miseries.  Americans  have 
always  before  them  the  memory  of  their  four 
years'  civil  war,  which,  although  resolutely 
prosecuted  on  both  sides,  could  not  be  brought 
to  a  close  until  the  resources  of  the  Southern 
States  in  men  and  material  were  exhausted.  In 
that  dreadful  process  the  quick  capital  of  the 
Southern  States  was  wiped  out. 

Now  that  the  sudden  attack  on  Paris  has 
failed,  and  adequate  time  has  been  secured  to 
summon  the  slower-moving  forces  of  Russia 
and  England,  and  these  two  resolute  and  per- 
sistent peoples  have  decided  to  use  all  their 
spiritual  and  material  forces  in  cooperation 
with  France  against  Germany,  thoughtful 
Americans  can  see  but  one  possible  issue  of 
the  struggle,  whether  it  be  long  or  short, 
namely,  the  defeat  of  Germany  and  Austria- 


AMERICAN  OPINION  AND  THE  ALLIES      93 

Hungary  in  their  present  undertakings,  and 
the  abandonment  by  both  peoples  of  the  doc- 
trine that  their  salvation  depends  on  militarism 
and  the  maintenance  of  autocratic  executives 
entrusted  with  the  power  and  the  means  to 
make  sudden  war.  They  believe  that  no  human 
being  should  ever  be  trusted  with  such  power. 
The  alternative  is,  of  course,  genuine  constitu- 
tional government,  with  the  military  power 
subject  to  the  civil  power. 

The  American  people  grieve  over  the  fruit- 
less sacrifices  of  life,  property,  and  the  natural 
human  joys  which  the  German  people  are  mak- 
ing to  a  wrong  and  impossible  ideal  of  national 
power  and  welfare.  The  sacrifices  which  Ger- 
many is  imposing  on  the  Allies  are  fearfully 
heavy ;  but  there  is  reason  to  hope  that  these 
will  not  be  fruitless,  for  out  of  them  may  come 
great  gains  for  liberty  and  peace  in  Europe. 

All  experienced  readers  on  this  side  of  the 
Atlantic  are  well  aware  that  nine  tenths  of  all 
the  reports  they  get  about  the  war  come  from 
English  and  French  sources,  and  this  knowl- 
edge makes  them  careful  not  to  form  judg- 
ments about  details  until  the  events  and  deeds 
tell  their  own  story.  They  cannot  even  tell 
to  which  side  victory  inclines  in  a  long,  far- 


94  THE  BO  AD  TOWARD  PEACE 

extended  battle,  until  recognizable  changes  in 
the  positions  of  the  combatants  show  what 
the  successes  or  failures  must  have  been.  The 
English  and  French  win  some  advantage  so 
far  as  the  formation  of  public  opinion  in  this 
country  is  concerned ;  because  those  two  Gov- 
ernments send  hither  official  reports  on  current 
events  more  frequently  than  the  German  Gov- 
ernment does,  and  with  more  corroborative 
details.  The  amount  of  secrecy  with  which 
the  campaign  is  surrounded  on  both  sides  is, 
however,  a  new  and  unwelcome  experience  for 
both  the  English  and  the  American  public. 

The  pamphlets  by  German  publicists  and 
men  of  letters  which  are  now  coming  to  this 
country,  and  the  various  similar  publications 
written  here,  seem  to  indicate  that  the  German 
public  is  still  kept  by  its  Government  in  igno- 
rance about  the  real  antecedents  of  the  war 
and  about  many  of  the  incidents  and  aspects  of 
the  portentous  combat.  These  documents  seem 
to  Americans  to  contain  a  large  amount  of  mis- 
information about  the  attack  of  Austria-Hun- 
gary on  Serbia,  the  diplomatic  negotiations 
and  the  correspondence  between  the  sovereigns 
which  immediately  preceded  the  war,  and  the 
state  of  mind  of  the  Belgian  and  English  peo- 


AMERICAN  OPINION  AND  THE  ALLIES      95 

pies.  American  believers  in  the  good  sense  and 
good  feeling  of  the  common  people  naturally 
imagine,  when  an  awful  calamity  befalls  a  na- 
tion, that  the  people  cannot  have  been  warned 
of  its  approach,  else  they  would  have  avoided 
it.  In  this  case  they  fear  that  the  German  Em- 
peror, Chancellery,  and  General  Staff  have 
themselves  been  misinformed  in  important  re- 
spects, have  made  serious  miscalculations  which 
they  are  proposing  to  conceal  as  long  as  possi- 
ble, and  are  not  taking  the  common  people 
into  their  confidence.  American  sympathies  are 
with  the  German  people  in  their  sufferings 
and  losses,  but  not  with  their  rulers,  or  with  the 
military  class,  or  with  the  professors  and  men 
of  letters  who  have  been  teaching  for  more  than 
a  generation  that  Might  makes  Right.  That 
short  phrase  contains  the  fundamental  fallacy 
which  for  fifty  years  has  been  poisoning  the 
springs  of  German  thought  and  German  policy 
on  public  affairs. 

Dread  of  the  Muscovite  does  not  seem  to 
Americans  a  reasonable  explanation  of  the 
present  actions  of  Germany  and  Austria-Hun- 
gary, except  so  far  as  irrational  panic  can  be 
said  to  be  an  explanation.  Against  possible, 
though  not  probable,  Russian  aggression,  a  firm 


96  THE  EOAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

defensive  alliance  of  all  Western  Europe  would 
be  a  much  better  protection  than  the  single 
Might  of  Germany.  It  were  easy  to  imagine 
also  two  new  "  buffer  "  states  —  a  reconstructed 
Poland  and  a  Balkan  Confederation.  As  to 
French  "revenge,"  it  is  the  inevitable  and 
praiseworthy  consequence  of  Germany's  treat- 
ment of  France  in  1870-71.  The  great  success 
of  Germany  in  expanding  her  commerce  during 
the  past  thirty  years  makes  it  hard  for  Ameri- 
cans to  understand  the  hot  indignation  of  the 
Germans  against  the  British  because  of  what- 
ever ineffective  opposition  Great  Britain  may 
have  offered  to  that  expansion.  No  amount  of 
commercial  selfishness  on  the  part  of  insular 
England  can  justify  Germany  in  attempting  to 
seize  supreme  power  in  Europe  and  thence,  per- 
haps, in  the  world. 

Finally,  Americans  hope  and  expect  that 
there  will  be  no  such  fatal  issue  of  the  present 
struggle  as  the  destruction  or  ruin  of  the  Ger- 
man nation.  On  the  contrary,  they  believe  that 
Germany  will  be  freer,  happier,  and  greater 
than  ever,  when  once  she  has  got  rid  of  the 
monstrous  Bismarck  policies  and  the  Emperor's 
archaic  conception  of  his  function,  and  has  en- 
joyed twenty  years  of  real  peace. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
AMERICA'S  DUTY  IN  REGARD  TO  THE  EUROPEAN 

WAR1 

DUTIES  often  grow  out  of  sentiments  and 
beliefs,  and  in  this  instance  they  clearly  do ; 
so  that  I  propose  in  the  first  place  to  speak  of 
the  great  disappointments  which  this  war  and 
the  second  war  in  the  Balkans  have  brought  to 
thoughtful  Americans  and  to  all  persons,  indeed, 
who  hoped  that  the  human  race  was  making 
some  progress  toward  humane,  just,  and  merci- 
ful conditions  of  life. 

We  have  been  startled  by  the  outbreak,  the 
apparently  sudden  outbreak,  of  the  worst  fight- 
ing that  the  world  has  ever  seen  in  regard  to 
destruction  of  life  and  property,  and  of  pre- 
cious treasures  of  letters  and  art.  That  is  the 
literal  fact.  No  war  of  former  times  has  been 
so  destructive  of  things  that  we  imagined  the 
human  race  in  its  civilized  parts  held  to  be  pre- 
cious and  inviolable. 

Then,  most  Americans  believed  that  one  of 

1  An  address  before  the  Business  Women's  Club  of  Boston, 
October  15, 1914. 


98  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

the  chief  methods  of  progress  in  civilization 
was  expressed  in  the  phrase,  "the  sanctity  of 
contracts."  You  are  all  business  women.  You 
have  known  that  modern  business  absolutely 
depends  on  the  sanctity  of  contracts.  It  de- 
pends also  upon  the  faith  of  man  in  man.  All 
the  commercial  and  financial  agencies  of  the 
modern  world  are  built  on  credit ;  and  what  is 
credit  but  the  faith  of  man  in  man  that  all  will 
observe  the  sanctity  of  a  contract  or  agree- 
ment? 

Lately,  we  saw  in  the  Balkans  that  a  bond 
of  union,  under  which  a  considerable  war  had 
been  fought  against  an  alien  ruler,  suddenly 
broke  to  pieces ;  and  on  the  rupture  came  one 
of  the  most  ferocious  wars  that  the  world  has 
ever  seen,  a  war  as  savage  as  that  of  the  Greek 
revolution  of  1822,  which  at  the  time  was  sup- 
posed to  be  characterized  by  unusual  ferocity. 
And  then  we  were  brought  to  this  sudden  out- 
burst of  warlike  fury  in  Europe ;  and  one  of  the 
most  civilized  nations  in  Europe  immediately 
declared  by  its  acts  —  not  in  words,  though  a 
declaration  in  words  was  not  altogether  lacking 
—  that  a  solemn  treaty,  only  a  few  years  old, 
was  to  signify  for  that  nation  nothing  whatever, 
absolutely  nothing.  The  treaty  of  neutrality 


AMERICA'S  GRIEFS,  DUTIES,  AND  DEBTS     99 

•which  protected  Belgium  "was  violated  in  the 
first  moments  of  the  war.  These  things  have 
brought  to  Americans  a  desperate  disappoint- 
ment. 

The  whole  structure  of  our  government  rests 
on  a  single  contract  entered  into  by  thirteen 
parties,  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
We  are  thoroughly  accustomed  to  the  principle 
of  federation,  the  joining  together  of  distinct 
independent  States  in  a  common  union  for 
common  purposes ;  and  we  regard  that  union, 
that  federation,  as  the  very  foundation  of  our 
national  life.  Are  such  contracts,  such  conven- 
tions, such  agreements,  to  be  regarded  in  Eu- 
rope as  of  no  effect,  as  "  pieces  of  paper,"  as 
the  German  Chancellor  said,  to  be  torn  up  be- 
cause of  what  he  called  military  necessity, 
which  only  meant  that  a  nation  going  to  war 
may  take  the  easiest,  shortest,  quickest  way  of 
attacking  its  opponent,  no  matter  what  neutral 
territory  may  stand  in  the  way  ?  This  total  dis- 
regard of  the  sanctity  of  a  contract  is  the  heavi- 
est of  our  many  serious  disappointments  within 
the  last  two  months  and  a  half. 

And  then  we  Americans  had  fondly  hoped 
that  the  conception  of  chivalry  was  to  be  pre- 
served in  the  modern  world,  that  the  chival- 


100  THE  ROAD   TOWARD  PEACE 

rous  man  was  still  to  exist,  that  a  chivalrous 
knighthood  might  continue  to  exist,  that  the 
chivalrous  principle  of  the  strong  defending 
and  protecting  the  weak  would  develop,  not 
dwindle,  in  the  civilized  world.  Americans  il- 
lustrate this  state  of  mind,  this  chivalrous  habit, 
in  their  treatment  of  women  and  children  ;  and 
they  have  done  so  for  many  generations.  Sud- 
denly we  find  a  strong  nation  which  claims  the 
highest  degree  of  civilization  absolutely  disre- 
garding all  considerations  of  chivalrous  action 
towards  weaker  powers.  The  attack  by  Ger- 
many on  Belgium  was  a  violent  attack  of  a 
sudden  on  an  army  and  a  nation  that  was  infi- 
nitely weaker  than  Germany,  —  no  comparison 
whatever  between  little  Belgium  and  great 
Germany  in  any  sort  of  power  or  force ;  and 
to-day  Belgium  has  been  devoured,  is  extinct, 
if  Europe  shall  permit  her  to  be  extinguished. 

We  had  hoped  that  the  methods  of  war  and 
the  ethics  of  war  had  been  shown  to  be  capable 
of  amelioration,  of  improvement.  Both  Confer- 
ences of  the  Hague  labored  much  over  amelio- 
rations of  the  practices  in  war.  This  present 
war  has  blown  all  those  efforts  to  the  winds. 

Americans,  as  a  rule,  have  believed  that  the 
human  race  was  really  making  a  slow  progress 


AMERICA'S  GRIEFS,  DUTIES,  AND  DEBTS     101 

toward  justice  between  man  and  man,  and  be- 
tween nation  and  nation,  and  was  making  a 
slow  progress  toward  the  development  of  indi- 
vidual liberty.  We  said  in  our  Declaration  of 
Independence  that  all  men  are  entitled  to  "life, 
liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness " ;  and 
now  we  see  that  there  is  not  a  man  or  woman 
in  Europe  that  has  any  title  to  life,  or  liberty, 
or  the  pursuit  of  happiness.  This  is  another 
heavy  disappointment  to  the  American  people. 

We  had  hoped  that  the  world  was  making 
some  progress  toward  the  Christian  ideal  of 
mercy,  gentleness,  and  love  as  the  supreme  mo- 
tives in  human  conduct ;  and  suddenly  we  dis- 
cover that  in  the  most  advanced  nation  in 
Europe  as  regards  science,  pure  and  applied, 
there  is  during  war  no  mercy,  no  humanity, 
and  that  hatred  quickly  takes  the  place  of 
friendliness,  and  is  developed  with  an  astonish- 
ing speed  and  amplitude  into  a  fierce  and  abid- 
ing passion. 

These  disappointments  weigh  upon  us  the 
more  because  we  see  no  issue  possible  of  the 
present  struggle  except  after  long  months  or 
years  of  desperate  warfare.  The  prevailing  Ger- 
man philosophy  of  government  and  of  national 
greatness  is  built  upon  the  dogma  —  "  Might 


102  THE  ROAD  TOWAED  PEACE 

makes  Right."  It  seems  to  be  a  new  religion 
among  the  leading  Prussians  that  force  is  the 
only  basis  of  national  greatness  and  of  moral 
dignity,  and  valor  the  highest  virtue,  no  matter 
in  what  cause  valor  is  displayed. 

You  are  all  women.  Do  you  believe  that 
might  makes  right?  Have  you  ever  believed 
it  ?  Has  the  history  of  the  human  race,  up  from 
savagery  to  what  we  call  civilization,  suggested 
to  you  that  might  is  the  real  source  of  right, 
is  the  only  foundation  of  just  relations  between 
man  and  woman?  In  savage  life  the  greater 
strength,  power,  and  endurance  of  the  man 
gives  him  absolute  control  over  the  woman ; 
and  he  has  always  exercised  it.  Here  in  this 
most  fortunate  and  blessed  country  we  have 
had  a  totally  different  conception  of  right  rela- 
tions between  man  and  woman,  between  adults 
and  children,  between  the  state  and  its  citizens. 
We  absolutely  deny  that  might  makes  right. 
We  believe  that  the  foundations  of  the  family 
and  of  the  state  are  moral,  and  that  these  moral 
foundations  have  superseded  in  some  measure 
the  ancient  tenet  that  the  strong  have  the  right 
to  dominate  the  weak. 

You  perceive  that  the  American  objection 
to  the  political  philosophy  of  Germany  at  the 


AMERICA'S  GRIEFS,  DUTIES,  AND  DEBTS     103 

present  day,  and  to  its  militarism,  is  absolutely 
fundamental.  Our  objections  go  to  the  roots  of 
the  matter,  and  we  are  irreconcilable  to  the 
whole  philosophy  which  prevails  in  Germany, 
apparently  without  denial  or  exception  in  any 
class  of  society.  I  say  "apparently,"  because 
none  of  us  feel  that  at  present  we  have  access 
to  the  fundamental  sentiments  of  the  mass  of 
the  German  population.  We  have  access  to  the 
expressed  views  of  the  philosophers,  poets,  and 
historians.  We,  of  course,  have  access  to  the 
expressed  views  of  their  military  authorities,  ac- 
tive or  retired.  We  have  access  to  the  archaic 
conceptions  which  the  German  Emperor  cher- 
ishes of  his  function,  and  of  the  God-given 
powers  of  himself  and  his  family.  But  we  have 
not  access  at  this  moment  to  the  underlying 
sentiments  of  the  masses  of  the  German  peo- 
ple ;  and  it  will  probably  be  years  before  we 
learn  them.  So,  thinking  of  these  things,  we 
have  to  qualify  our  use  of  the  word  "  prevail " 
with  the  word  "  apparently,"  or  the  phrase  "  so 
far  as  we  can  see  " ;  and  we  are  permitted  to 
hope  that  we  do  not  see  far  enough. 

Such  being  the  gulf  between  American  sen- 
timents and  German  sentiments  as  they  appear 
to-day,  and  this  gulf  being  a  matter  of  political 


104  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

and  religious  conviction,  how  are  our  duties  as 
a  nation  to  be  determined  in  the  present  crisis 
and  catastrophe  for  mankind  ? 

We  have  no  difficulty  in  recognizing  the  jus- 
tice, indeed  the  indispensable  quality  of  the 
action  of  our  Government,  the  official  action  of 
the  nation,  in  the  present  horrible  conditions. 
We  all  believe  that  our  Government  has  been 
right  in  declaring  neutrality  in  the  actual  com- 
bat for  the  United  States.  We  all  believe  that 
at  present  we  must  deal  equally  with  the  com- 
batants on  the  two  sides  —  that  if  we  sell  food 
to  one  group,  we  must  also  sell  food  to  the 
other ;  that  we  must  pay  our  debts,  no  matter 
to  which  side.  So  much  we  are  doing.  We  are 
paying  our  debts,  no  matter  whether  the  debt 
is  due  to  a  German,  an  Austrian,  a  Frenchman, 
or  an  Englishman.  We  also  keep  open  the  lines 
of  traffic,  whether  those  lines  run  into  English  or 
French  ports,  or  into  any  other  port  of  Europe 
not  blockaded.  Our  surplus  food  is  going  to  all 
the  combatants  at  this  moment ;  because  neutral 
ports  give  access  to  Germany  and  Austria  as 
well  as  to  England,  France,  and  Russia. 

But  this  neutrality  is  official  or  legal,  as  it 
were.  It  must  be  maintained  until  new  con- 
ditions determine  new  actions.  But  it  is,  of 


AMERICAS  GBIEFS,   DUTIES,   AND  DEBTS     105 

course,  quite  impossible  for  us  to  be  neutral  as 
regards  our  feelings  and  beliefs,  our  sentiments 
and  hopes ;  quite  impossible,  because  the  cause 
in  which  Germany  and  Austria-Hungary  are 
fighting  is  the  cause  of  imperialism,  of  militar- 
ism, of  governments  by  force,  using  against 
other  nations  the  extreme  of  skilfully  directed, 
highly  trained  force.  We  see  upon  the  other 
side  the  two  freest  large  nations  in  Europe 
combined  with  a  military  empire.  These  two 
freest  nations  —  England  and  France  —  are  na- 
tions to  which  we  of  this  country  are  deeply 
indebted  for  our  own  safety,  freedom,  and  faith 
in  liberty  under  law.  Therefore,  neutrality  in 
our  hearts  is  quite  out  of  the  question. 

But  under  these  conditions  what  can  we  do, 
what  can  you  do  to  help  agonized  Europe? 
You  can  do  everything  in  your  power,  and  ad* 
vise  all  persons  over  whom  you  have  influence, 
to  do  everything  in  their  power  to  keep  our 
own  industries  going,  to  maintain  the  business, 
the  work,  the  productiveness  of  this  country; 
to  restore  the  lines  of  exchange  suddenly  rup- 
tured after  a  careful  building  up  which  has 
taken  at  least  three  centuries ;  and  to  restore 
the  lines  of  transportation  for  the  international 
exchange  of  goods.  You  can  do  everything  in 


106  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

your  power  to  prevent  all  kinds  of  hoarding 
within  our  country,  within  our  domestic  circles, 
hoarding  of  money,  goods,  or  provisions  — 
flour,  for  example,  and  sugar  —  and  of  pur- 
chasing beyond  the  usual  demands  of  the  fam- 
ily. All  these  things  hurt.  They  hurt  because 
they  tend  to  an  unreasonable  rise  of  prices  im- 
mediately, and  on  the  spot.  Discourage  all  such 
selfish  precautions. 

Every  man  who  employs  other  persons  should 
now  continue  to  employ  as  many  as  possible  of 
the  people  he  has  been  accustomed  to  employ. 
To  reduce  unnecessarily  expenditures  on  the 
employment  of  labor  is  an  unwise  and  unpatri- 
otic thing  at  this  moment. 

Are  there  no  expenditures  that  we  may  prop- 
erly reduce?  Certainly  there  are.  But  at  this 
moment  I  think  of  only  one  class  of  expendi- 
tures which  might  well  be  reduced,  namely,  ex- 
penditures on  luxuries,  particularly  on  luxuries 
which  are,  to  say  the  least,  silly  or  injurious. 
There  are  a  good  many  such  luxuries  in  the 
American  community  on  which  serious  savings 
might  be  made;  but  those  are  the  only  ex- 
penditures which  it  is  even  justifiable  to  reduce 
at  this  time,  unless  the  money  to  meet  normal 
expenditures  is  actually  lacking.  No  fear  of 


AMERICA'S  GRIEFS,  DUTIES,  AND  DEBTS     107 

future  loss  of  income  justifies  retrenchment 
now. 

I  have  been  speaking  of  our  own  expendi- 
tures and  the  employment  of  labor  in  our  own 
country ;  but  can  we  not  do  something  for 
other  countries  in  similar  directions  ?  We  can 
continue  to  supply  to  the  utmost  the  industries 
of  all  other  countries,  and  particularly  the  in- 
dustries of  the  European  countries,  with  the 
raw  materials  they  need  for  their  own  factories. 
We  shall  be  truly  neutral  in  so  doing,  if  the 
conditions  permit  us  to  supply  the  raw  mate- 
rials of  their  industries,  or  parts  of  them,  to  all 
the  combatants.  We  may  not  be  able  to  serve 
all  the  nations  that  are  at  war ;  but  should  do 
it  so  far  as  it  is  possible.  This  is  one  of  the 
neutral  duties. 

The  prospect  is  that  the  war  will  last  until 
one  or  other  of  the  combatants  is  thoroughly 
exhausted.  One  cannot  conceive  of  Germany 
submitting  to  defeat  until  she  has  exhausted 
her  supplies  of  men,  money,  and  food.  And  I 
am  sure  we  shall  have  equal  difficulty  in  con- 
ceiving that  England  will  stop  until  she  is 
thoroughly  exhausted.  Fortunately,  from  our 
point  of  view,  there  is  no  more  resolute  or 
dogged  people  in  the  world  than  the  English, 


108  THE  BOAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

and  we  remember  in  that  connection  with  satis- 
faction that  many  of  us  are  of  English  extrac- 
tion. 

As  to  France  —  a  new  thrill  of  feeling  and 
sentiment  has  gone  through  France.  Every  one 
that  returns  from  France  says  that  the  peo- 
ple seemed  changed,  externally  and  internally. 
They  are  sober  and  serious,  and  they  go  about 
their  daily  work  with  a  grave  determination  to 
prevent  by  any  sacrifices  the  extinction,  or  the 
reduction  in  power,  of  the  French  nation. 

But  what  shall  I  say  of  Russia?  It  is  the 
momentary,  yes,  the  rather  permanent  belief  in 
Germany,  that  the  Russians  may  be  justly  de- 
scribed as  barbarians,  semi -civilized  people, 
Oriental  people,  incapable  of  that  high  degree 
of  organization,  and  that  practice  of  individual 
liberty  under  law  which  characterize  the  prom- 
ising Occidental  peoples.  And  it  is  true  that 
the  Russians  are  an  immense  mass  of  people 
only  lately  risen  from  the  condition  of  serfs, 
and  that  they  are  ruled  by  a  despotic  ruler  who 
is  surrounded  by  an  autocratic  group  of  high 
public  officials.  But  we  Americans  have  learnt 
in  recent  years  a  good  deal  about  the  Russians; 
and  we  find  in  them  some  qualities  which  give 
us  hope  for  the  huge  nation,  which  often  seems 


AMERICA'S  GRIEFS,  DUTIES,  AND  DEBTS     109 

slumbering  or  half-awake  as  regards  both  com- 
mercial and  political  activity.  We  have  had  a 
large  number  of  Russians  poured  in  upon  us 
of  recent  years,  and  we  have  found  them  to 
be  an  industrious,  intelligent,  romantic  people, 
capable  of  all  the  highest  sentiments  of  human 
nature,  and  having  at  heart  a  great  ambition 
toward  liberty  and  an  expanding  and  improv- 
ing life.  I  had  occasion  to  observe  while  I  was 
President  of  Harvard  College  that  there  were 
no  more  intelligent  students  in  the  University 
than  the  Russians.  They  had  the  defects  of 
peoples  that  have  been  for  generations  under 
despotic  rule,  and  doubtless  on  an  immense 
scale  they  still  exhibit  those  defects. 

Many  Americans  have  made  acquaintance 
within  the  last  fifteen  years  with  modern  Rus- 
sian literature.  It  is  in  high  degree  imaginative, 
hopeful,  and  pathetic,  though  often  revolution- 
ary in  the  proper  sense  of  that  word  —  that  is, 
looking  to  great  changes  in  family  and  social 
life,  and  in  the  life  of  the  Government.  Tolstoy 
represents  an  immense  movement  of  the  Rus- 
sian mind.  It  was  the  Czar  of  Russia  that  called 
the  first  Hague  Conference.  The  Czar  insti- 
tuted the  Douma,  which  has  had  already  an  inter- 
esting and  truly  remarkable  career,  considering 


110  THE  ROAD  TOWAED  PEACE 

that  none  of  its  members  had  any  experience 
of  political  liberty.  I  admit  that  none  of  these 
things  may  go  very  deep,  except  the  Russian 
literature.  That  goes  deep  into  the  heart  and 
mind  of  the  nation.  That  makes  a  deep  impres- 
sion on  the  heart  and  mind  of  the  whole  civil- 
ized world. 

We  have  further  to  observe  that  three  im- 
portant steps  have  already  been  taken  by  Russia 
since  this  war  broke  out,  all  of  them  of  a  highly 
progressive  nature.  One  is  the  offer  to  the  Poles 
to  reconstitute  the  Kingdom  of  Poland ;  an- 
other is  to  give  Jews  full  civic  rights  in  Russia ; 
and  the  third  is  the  imperial  order  prohibiting 
the  manufacture  and  use  of  the  strong  alcoholic 
spirit  that  the  Russians  have  been  in  the  habit 
of  drinking.  That  last  outcome  of  this  sudden 
war  is  a  very  striking  one.  What  if  an  immense 
temperance  reform  should  date  from  August, 
1914,  all  over  Russia  ? 

We  must  not,  therefore,  accept  the  German 
view  that  this  war  is  really  waged  to  resist  a 
new  irruption  of  the  barbarians  into  Europe.  It 
is  more  than  doubtful  whether  the  Russians  are 
barbarians.  It  is  more  than  doubtful  whether 
the  spirit  in  which  the  Russians  are  now  fight- 
ing be  not  more  accordant  with  the  American 


AMERICA'S  GRIEFS,  DUTIES,  AND  DEBTS     111 

spirit  than  the  spirit  which  animates  the  Ger- 
man Empire. 

We  must  bear  in  mind  —  indeed,  we  are  not 
in  danger  of  forgetting  —  the  deep  obligations 
which  this  American  nation  lies  under  to  Eng- 
land and  France.  The  obligations  are  so  deep 
that  it  is  quite  in  vain  to  expect  us  to  be  in  our 
hearts  neutral  during  the  development  of  this 
fearful  catastrophe.  The  American  people  is 
ordinarily  accused  of  being  materialistic,  of 
seeking  the  dollar,  and  not  caring  much  about 
anything  else,  except  the  luxuries  or  comforts 
that  the  dollar  can  buy.  How  often  we  have 
heard  that  of  late.  It  is  a  total  misconception 
with  regard  to  the  f  undamantal  beliefs  and  prac- 
tices of  the  American  people.  We  are  an  ideal- 
istic people.  When  our  ideals  are  attacked  and 
seem  to  us  to  be  in  danger,  there  is  no  people 
in  the  world  that  more  promptly  throws  to  the 
winds  all  material  interests.  When  our  ideals 
are  seriously  attacked,  we  are  absolutely  reck- 
less with  regard  to  our  property,  national  or  in- 
dividual, and  we  care  for  our  material  resources 
only  as  means  of  defending  our  moral  theories 
and  our  hopes  for  mankind. 

We  must  hope  and  pray  that  we  shall  not  be 
drawn  into  this  most  horrible  war  of  all  time. 


112  THE  EOAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

But  that  escape  will  be  due  to  the  fact  that 
Russia,  England,  and  France  have  succeeded  in 
defeating  Germany  and  Austria-Hungary. 

Prophecy  as  to  issues  is  impossible  under  such 
conditions  as  those  we  are  now  witnessing;  but  it 
is  not  impossible  to  prophesy  that  the  American 
people  will  be  true  to  their  quality,  true  to  their 
history,  true  to  their  obligations  to  England 
and  to  France.  We  all  know  that  the  American 
ideals  came  from  England  across  the  Atlantic 
with  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  and  the  Puritans,  and 
have  since  moved  majestically  across  the  conti- 
nent; and  we  all  know  that  that  "celestial- 
infernal  phenomenon,"  as  Carlyle  called  the 
French  Revolution,  carried  all  about  the  civil- 
ized and  half -civilized  world  the  fundamental 
conceptions  concerning  the  rights  of  man,  and 
the  uplifting  power  of  liberty.  The  French  na- 
tion, after  that  "  celestial-infernal  phenome- 
non," wandered  in  the  wilderness  for  more  than 
two  generations ;  but  at  last  they  have  attained 
to  a  republican  form  of  government,  which  has 
already  lasted  more  than  forty  years.  Can  we 
think  of  giving  no  aid  to  France  if  she  comes 
to  the  end  of  her  resources  ?  Can  we  think  of 
bringing  no  aid  to  England  if  she  be  reduced 
to  like  straits  ?  Happily  we  do  not  need  to  an- 


AMERICA'S  GRIEFS,  DUTIES,  AND  DEBTS     113 

ticipate  so  direful  an  issue.  But  let  us  not 
confuse  our  minds  and  wills  by  failing  to  see 
whither  the  German  policies  lead,  whither  the 
teachings  of  Bismarck,  Treitschke,  and  Bern- 
hardi  have  led  Germany.  Let  us  not  dream  of 
abandoning  our  faith  that  human  relations 
should  be,  nay,  shall  be,  determined,  not  by 
arrogant  force,  but  by  considerations  of  justice, 
mercy,  love,  and  good-will. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  CAUSES  OF  THE  WAR  ARE  AUTOCRATIC 
INSTITUTIONS,  NATIONAL  DESIRES  FOR  EM- 
PIRE, DISREGARD  FOR  TREATIES  AND  CON- 
VENTIONS, AND  FALSE  PHILOSOPHIES WHY 

GERMANY   MUST    BE    DEFEATED  l 

EACH  one  of  the  principal  combatants  in  Eu- 
rope seems  to  be  anxious  to  prove  that  it  is  not 
responsible  for  this  cruelest,  most  extensive,  and 
most  destructive  of  all  wars.  Each  Government  in- 
volved has  published  the  correspondence  between 
its  chief  executive  and  other  chief  executives, 
and  between  its  Chancellery  or  Foreign  Office 
and  the  equivalent  bodies  in  the  other  nations 
that  have  gone  to  war,  and  has  been  at  pains  to 
give  a  wide  circulation  to  these  documents.  To 
be  sure,  none  of  these  Government  publications 
seems  to  be  absolutely  complete.  There  seem  to 
be  in  all  of  them  suppressions  or  omissions 
which  only  the  future  historian  will  be  able  to 
report  —  perhaps  after  many  years.  They  re- 
veal, however,  the  dilapidated  state  of  the  Con- 

1  A  letter  published  in  the  New  York  Times  on  November 
17, 1914. 


THE  CAUSE  OF  THE  WAR  —  ITS  OUTCOME     115 

cert  of  Europe  in  July,  1914,  and  the  flurry  in 
the  European  Chancelleries  which  the  ultimatum 
sent  by  Austria-Hungary  to  Servia  produced. 
They  also  testify  to  the  existence  of  a  new  and 
influential  public  opinion  about  war  and  peace, 
to  which  nations  that  go  to  war  think  it  desir- 
able to  appeal  for  justification  or  moral  sup- 
port. 

These  publications  have  been  read  with  in- 
tense interest  by  impartial  observers  in  all  parts 
of  the  world,  and  have  in  many  cases  determined 
the  direction  of  the  readers'  sympathy  and 
good-will ;  and  yet  none  of  them  discloses  or 
deals  with  the  real  sources  of  the  unprecedented 
calamity.  They  relate  chiefly  to  the  question 
who  struck  the  match,  and  not  to  the  questions 
who  provided  the  magazine  that  exploded,  and 
why  did  he  provide  it.  Grave  responsibility,  of 
course,  attaches  to  the  person  who  gives  the 
order  to  mobilize  a  national  army  or  to  invade 
a  neighbor's  territory ;  but  the  real  source  of 
the  resulting  horrors  is  not  in  such  an  order, 
but  in  the  governmental  institutions,  political 
philosophy,  and  long-nurtured  passions  and  pur- 
poses of  the  nation  or  nations  concerned. 

The  prime  source  of  the  present  immense 
disaster  in  Europe  is  the  desire  on  the  part 


116  THE  BO  AD  TOWARD  PEACE 

of  Germany  for  world-empire,  a  desire  which 
one  European  nation  after  another  has  made 
its  supreme  motive,  and  none  that  has  once 
adopted  it  has  ever  completely  eradicated.  Ger- 
many arrived  late  at  this  desire,  being  pre- 
vented until  1870  from  indulging  in  it,  be- 
cause of  her  lack  of  unity,  or  rather  because 
of  being  divided  since  the  Thirty  Years'  War 
into  a  large  number  of  separate,  more  or  less  in- 
dependent states.  When  this  disease,  which  has 
attacked  one  nation  after  another  through  all 
historic  times,  struck  Germany,  it  exhibited 
in  her  case  a  remarkable  malignity,  moving 
her  to  expansion  in  Europe  by  force  of  arms, 
and  to  the  seizure  of  areas  for  colonization  in 
many  parts  of  the  world.  Prussia,  indeed,  had 
long  believed  in  making  her  way  in  Europe  by 
fighting,  and  had  repeatedly  acted  on  that  be- 
lief. Shortly  before  the  achievement  of  German 
unity  by  Bismarck,  she  had  obtained  by  war  in 
1864  and  1866  important  accessions  of  terri- 
tory, and  leadership  in  all  Germany. 

With  this  desire  for  world-empire  went  the 
belief  that  it  was  only  to  be  obtained  by  force 
of  arms.  Therefore,  united  Germany  has  labored 
with  utmost  intelligence  and  energy  to  prepare 
the  most  powerful  army  in  the  world,  and  to 


THE  CAUSE  OF  THE  WAR  — ITS  OUTCOME     117 

equip  it  for  instant  action  in  the  most  per- 
fect manner  which  science  and  eager  foresight 
could  contrive.  To  develop  this  supreme  military 
machine  universal  conscription  —  an  outgrowth 
of  the  conception  of  the  citizens'  army  of  France 
during  the  Revolution  —  was  necessary ;  so 
that  every  young  man  in  Germany  physically 
competent  to  bear  arms  might  receive  the  train- 
ing of  a  soldier,  whether  he  wished  it  or  not, 
and  remain  at  the  call  of  the  Government  for 
military  duty  during  all  his  years  of  competency, 
even  if  he  were  the  only  son  of  a  widow,  or  a 
widower  with  little  children,  or  the  sole  sup- 
port of  a  family  or  other  dependents.  In  order 
to  the  completeness  of  this  military  ideal  the 
army  became  the  nation  and  the  nation  became 
the  army  to  a  degree  which  had  never  before 
been  realized  in  either  the  savage  or  the  civilized 
world.  This  army  could  be  summoned  and  put 
in  play  by  the  chief  executive  of  the  German 
nation  with  no  preliminaries  except  the  consent 
of  the  hereditary  heads  of  the  several  states 
which  united  to  form  the  Empire  in  1870-71 
under  the  domination  of  Prussia,  the  Prussian 
King,  become  German  Emperor,  being  Com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  German  army.  At  the 
word  of  the  Emperor  this  army  can  be  sum- 


118  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

moned,  collected,  clothed,  equipped  and  armed, 
and  set  in  motion  toward  any  frontier  in  a  day. 
The  German  army  was  thus  made  the  largest 
in  proportion  to  population,  the  best  equipped, 
and  the  most  mobile  in  the  world.  The  German 
General  Staff  studied  incessantly  and  thoroughly 
plans  for  campaigns  against  all  the  other  prin- 
cipal states  of  Europe,  and  promptly  utilized  — 
secretly,  whenever  secrecy  was  possible  —  all 
promising  inventions  in  explosives,  ordnance, 
munitions,  transportation,  and  sanitation.  At 
the  opening  of  1914  the  General  Staff  believed 
that  the  German  army  was  ready  for  war  on  the 
instant,  and  that  it  possessed  some  significant 
advantages  in  fighting  —  such  as  better  imple- 
ments and  better  discipline — over  the  armies 
of  the  neighboring  nations.  The  army  could  do 
its  part  toward  the  attainment  of  world-empire. 
It  would  prove  invincible. 

The  intense  desire  for  colonies,  and  for  the 
spread  of  German  commerce  throughout  the 
world,  instigated  the  creation  of  a  great  Ger- 
man navy,  and  started  the  race  with  England 
in  navy  building.  The  increase  of  German 
wealth,  and  the  rapid  development  of  manufac- 
tures and  commercial  sea-power  after  1870-71, 
made  it  possible  for  the  Empire  to  devote  im- 


THE  CAUSE  OF  THE  WAR  — ITS  OUTCOME     119 

mense  sums  of  money  to  the  quick  construction 
of  a  powerful  navy,  in  which  the  experience  and 
skill  of  all  other  shipbuilding  nations  would  be 
appropriated  and  improved  on.  In  thus  push- 
ing her  colonization  and  sea-power  policy,  Ger- 
many encountered  the  wide  domination  of  Great 
Britain  on  the  oceans ;  and  this  encounter  bred 
jealousy,  suspicion,  and  distrust  on  both  sides. 
That  Germany  should  have  been  belated  in  the 
quest  for  foreign  possessions  was  annoying ;  but 
that  England  and  France  should  early  have 
acquired  ample  and  rich  territories  on  other 
continents,  and  then  should  resist  or  obstruct 
Germany  when  she  aspired  to  make  up  for  lost 
time,  was  intensely  exasperating.  Hence  chronic 
resentments,  and  —  when  the  day  came  —  prob- 
ably war.  In  respect  to  its  navy,  however, 
Germany  was  not  ready  for  war  at  the  opening 
of  1914 ;  and,  therefore,  she  did  not  mean  to 
get  into  war  with  Great  Britain  in  that  year. 
Indeed,  she  believed  — on  incorrect  information 
—  that  England  could  not  go  to  war  in  the 
summer  of  1914.  Neither  the  Government  nor 
the  educated  class  in  Germany  comprehends  the 
peculiar  features  of  party  government  as  it  ex- 
ists in  England,  France,  and  the  United  States; 
and,  therefore,  the  German  leaders  were  sur- 


120  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

prised  and  grievously  disappointed  at  the  sudden 
popular  determination  of  Great  Britain  and  Ire- 
land to  lay  aside  party  strife  and  take  strenuous 
part  in  the  general  European  conflict. 

The  complete  preparation  of  the  German 
army  for  sudden  war,  the  authority  to  make  war 
always  ready  in  the  hands  of  the  German  Em- 
peror, and  the  thorough  studies  of  the  German 
Staff  into  the  most  advantageous  plans  of  cam- 
paign against  every  neighbor,  conspired  to  de- 
velop a  new  doctrine  of  "military  necessity" 
as  the  all-sufficient  excuse  for  disregarding  and 
violating  the  contracts  or  agreements  into  which 
Prussia  or  the  new  Germany  had  entered  with 
other  nations.  To  gain  quickly  a  military  ad- 
vantage in  attacking  a  neighbor  came  to  be 
regarded  as  proper  ground  for  violating  any  or 
all  international  treaties  and  agreements,  no 
matter  how  solemn  and  comprehensive,  how 
old  or  how  new.  The  demonstration  of  the 
insignificance  or  worthlessness  of  international 
agreements  in  German  thought  and  practice 
was  given  in  the  first  days  of  the  war  by  the 
invasion  of  Belgium,  and  has  been  continued 
ever  since  by  violation  on  the  part  of  Germany 
of  numerous  agreements  concerning  the  con- 
duct of  war  into  which  Germany  entered  with 


THE  CAUSE  OF  THE  WAE  —  ITS  OUTCOME     121 

many  other  nations  at  the  Second  Hague  Con- 
ference. 

This  German  view  of  the  worthlessness  of 
international  agreements  was  not  a  cause  of 
the  present  war,  because  it  was  not  fully  evi- 
dent to  Europe,  although  familiar  and  of  long 
standing  in  Germany ;  but  it  is  a  potent  reason 
for  the  continuance  of  the  war  by  the  Allies 
until  Germany  is  defeated  ;  because  it  is  plain 
to  all  the  nations  of  the  world,  except  Ger- 
many, Austria-Hungary,  and  Turkey  at  the  mo- 
ment, that  the  hopes  of  mankind  for  the  gradual 
development  of  international  order  and  peace 
rest  on  the  sanctity  of  contracts  between  na- 
tions, and  on  the  development  of  adequate 
sanctions  in  the  administration  of  international 
law.  The  new  doctrine  of  military  necessity 
affronts  all  law,  and  is  completely  and  hope- 
lessly barbarous. 

World-empire  now,  as  always,  is  to  be  won 
by  force  —  that  is,  by  conquest  and  holding 
possession.  So  Assyria,  Israel,  Macedonia,  Ath- 
ens, Rome,  Islam,  England,  and  France  have 
successively  believed  and  tried  to  accomplish 
in  practice.  United  Germany  has  for  forty 
years  been  putting  into  practice,  at  home  and 
abroad,  the  doctrine  of  force  as  the  source  of 


122  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

all  personal  and  national  greatness  and  all 
worthy  human  achievements.  In  the  support 
of  this  doctrine,  educated  Germany  has  de- 
veloped and  accepted  the  religion  of  valor  and 
the  dogma  that  Might  makes  Right.  In  so 
doing  it  has  rejected  with  scorn  the  Christian 
teachings  concerning  humility  and  meekness, 
justice  and  mercy,  brotherhood  and  love.  The 
objects  of  its  adoration  have  become  Strength, 
Courage,  and  ruthless  Will-Power ;  let  the 
weak  perish  and  help  them  to  perish ;  let  the 
gentle,  meek,  and  humble  submit  to  the  harsh 
and  proud ;  let  the  shiftless  and  incapable  die ; 
the  world  is  for  the  strong,  and  the  strongest 
shall  be  ruler.  This  is  a  religion  capable  of  in- 
spiring its  followers  with  zeal  and  sustained  en- 
thusiasm in  promoting  the  national  welfare  at 
whatever  cost  to  the  individual  of  life,  liberty, 
or  happiness,  and  also  of  lending  a  religious 
sanction  to  the  extremes  of  cruelty,  greed,  and 
hate.  It  were  incredible  that  educated  people 
who  have  been  brought  up  within  earshot  of 
Christian  ethics  and  within  sight  of  gentle 
men  and  women  should  all  be  content  with  the 
religion-of-valor  plan.  Accordingly,  the  finer 
German  spirits  have  invented  a  supplement  to 
that  Stone  Age  religion.  They  have  set  up  for 


THE  CAUSE  OF  THE  WAE  —  ITS  OUTCOME     123 

worship  a  mystical  conception  of  the  State  as  a 
majestic  and  beneficent  entity  which  embraces 
all  the  noble  activities  of  the  nation  and  guides 
it  to  its  best  achievements.  To  this  ideal  State 
every  German  owes  duty,  obedience,  and  com- 
plete devotion.  The  trouble  with  this  supple- 
ment to  the  religion  of  valor  is  that  it  dwells 
too  much  on  submission,  self-sacrifice,  and  dis- 
cipline, and  not  enough  on  individual  liberty 
and  self-control  in  liberty.  Accordingly  when 
the  valiant  men  got  control  of  the  Government 
and  carried  the  nation  into  a  ferocious  war,  they 
swept  away  with  them  all  the  devotees  of  this 
romantic  and  spiritual  State.  The  modern  Ger- 
man is  always  a  controlled,  directed,  and  drilled 
person,  who  aspires  to  control  and  discipline  his 
inferiors ;  and  in  his  view  pretty  much  all  man- 
kind are  his  inferiors.  He  is  not  a  freeman  in 
the  French,  English,  or  American  sense ;  and  he 
prefers  not  to  be. 

The  present  war  is  the  inevitable  result  of 
lust  of  empire,  autocratic  government,  sudden 
wealth,  and  the  religion  of  valor.  What  Ger- 
man domination  would  mean  to  any  that  should 
resist  it  the  experience  of  Belgium  and  North- 
ern France  during  the  past  three  months  aptly 
demonstrates.  The  civilized  world  can  now  see 


124  THE  EOAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

•where  the  new  German  morality  —  be  efficient, 
be  virile,  be  hard,  be  bloody,  be  rulers —  would 
land  it.  To  maintain  that  the  power  which  has 
adopted  in  practice  that  new  morality,  and  in 
accordance  with  its  precepts  promised  Austria 
its  support  against  Servia  and  invaded  Belgium 
and  France  in  hot  haste,  is  not  the  responsible 
author  of  the  European  War,  is  to  throw  away 
memory,  reason,  and  common  sense  in  judging 
the  human  agencies  in  current  events. 

The  real  cause  of  the  war  is  this  gradually 
developed  barbaric  state  of  the  German  mind 
and  will.  All  other  causes  —  such  as  the  assas- 
sination of  the  heir  to  the  throne  of  Austria- 
Hungary,  the  sympathy  of  Russia  with  the 
Balkan  States,  the  French  desire  for  the  recov- 
ery of  Alsace-Lorraine,  and  Great  Britain's  jeal- 
ousy of  German  aggrandizement — are  secondary 
and  incidental  causes,  contributory,  indeed,  but 
not  primary  and  fundamental.  If  any  one  ask 
who  brought  the  ruling  class  in  Germany  to 
this  barbaric  frame  of  mind,  the  answer  must 
be  Bismarck,  Moltke,  Treitschke,  Nietzsche, 
Bernhardi,  the  German  Emperor,  their  like, 
their  disciples,  and  the  military  caste. 

Many  German  apologists  for  the  war  attribute 
it  to  German  fear  of  Russia.  They  say  that,  al- 


THE  CAUSE  OF  THE  WAR  —  ITS  OUTCOME     125 

though  Germany  committed  the  first  actual 
aggression  by  invading  Belgium  and  Luxem- 
burg on  the  way  to  attack  France  with  the 
utmost  speed  and  fierceness,  the  war  is  really  a 
war  of  defense  against  Russia,  which  might 
desirably  pass  over,  after  France  has  been 
crushed,  into  a  war  against  Great  Britain,  that 
perfidious  and  insolent  obstacle  to  Germany's 
world-empire.  The  answer  to  this  explanation 
is  that,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  Germany  has  never 
dreaded,  or  even  respected,  the  military  strength 
of  Russia,  and  that  the  recent  wars  and  threat- 
enings  of  war  by  Germany  have  not  been  di- 
rected against  Russia,  but  against  Denmark, 
Austria,  France,  and  England.  In  her  coloni- 
zation enterprises  it  is  not  Russia  that  Ger- 
many has  encountered,  but  England,  France, 
and  the  United  States.  The  friendly  advances 
made  within  the  last  twenty  years  by  Germany 
to  Turkey  were  not  intended  primarily  to 
strengthen  Germany  against  Russia,  but  Ger- 
many against  Great  Britain  through  access  by 
land  to  British  India.  In  short,  Germany's 
policies,  at  home  and  abroad,  during  the  past 
forty  years  have  been  inspired  not  by  fear  of 
Russia,  or  of  any  other  invader,  but  by  its  own 
aggressive  ambition  for  world-empire.  In  the 


126  THE  ROAD  TOWAED  PEACE 

present  war  it  thinks  it  has  staked  its  all  on 
"  empire  or  downfall." 

Those  nations  which  value  public  liberty,  and 
believe  that  the  primary  object  of  government 
is  to  promote  the  general  welfare  by  measures 
and  policies  founded  on  justice,  good-will,  and 
respect  for  the  freedom  of  the  individual,  can- 
not but  hope  that  Germany  will  be  completely 
defeated  in  its  present  undertakings ;  but  they 
do  not  believe  that  Germany  is  compelled  to 
choose  between  a  life  of  domination  in  Europe 
and  the  world  and  national  death.  They  wish 
that  all  her  humane  culture  and  her  genius  for 
patient  and  exact  research  may  survive  this  hid- 
eous war,  and  guide  another  Germany  to  great 
achievements  for  humanity. 

If  the  causes  of  the  present  immense  catas- 
trophe have  been  correctly  stated,  the  desirable 
outcomes  of  the  war  are,  no  world-empire  for 
any  race  or  nation,  no  more  "  subjects,"  no  ex- 
ecutives, either  permanent  or  temporary,  with 
power  to  throw  their  fellow-countrymen  into 
war,  no  secret  diplomacy  justifying  the  use  for 
a  profit  of  all  the  lies,  concealments,  deceptions, 
and  ambuscades  which  are  an  inevitable  part  of 
war,  and  assuming  to  commit  nations  on  inter- 
national questions,  and  no  conscription  armies 


TUE  CAUSE  OF  THE  WAR  —  ITS  OUTCOME     127 

that  can  be  launched  in  war  by  executives  with- 
out consulting  independent  representative  as- 
semblies. There  should  come  out  from  this  su- 
preme convulsion  a  federated  Europe,  or  a 
league  of  the  freer  nations,  which  should  secure 
the  smaller  states  against  attack,  prevent  the 
larger  from  attempting  domination,  make  sure 
that  treaties  and  other  international  contracts 
shall  be  public  and  be  respected  until  modi- 
fied by  mutual  consent,  and  provide  a  safe 
basis  for  the  limitation  and  reduction  of  arma- 
ments on  land  and  sea,  no  basis  to  be  consid- 
ered safe  which  could  fail  to  secure  the  liberties 
of  each  and  all  the  federated  states  against  the 
attacks  of  any  outsider  or  faithless  member. 
No  one  can  see  at  present  how  such  a  consum- 
mation is  to  be  brought  about,  but  any  one  can 
see  already  that  this  consummation  is  the  only 
one  which  can  satisfy  the  lovers  of  liberty  un- 
der law,  and  the  believers  in  the  progress  of 
mankind  through  loving  service  each  to  all  and 
all  to  each. 

Extreme  pacifists  shrink  from  fighting  evil 
with  evil,  hell  with  hell,  and  advise  submission 
to  outrage,  or  at  least  taking  the  risk  of  being 
forced  into  resigned  submission.  The  believers 
in  the  religion  of  valor,  on  the  other  hand,  pro- 


128  THE  EOAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

claim  that  war  is  a  good  thing  in  itself,  that  it 
develops  the  best  human  virtues,  invigorates  a 
nation  become  flaccid  through  ease  and  luxury, 
and  puts  in  command  the  strong,  dominating 
spirit  of  a  valid  nation  or  race.  What  is  the 
just  mean  between  these  two  extremes?  Is  it 
not  that  war  is  always  a  hideous  and  hateful 
evil,  but  that  a  nation  may  sometimes  find  it  to 
be  the  least  of  two  evils  between  which  it  has 
to  choose  ?  The  justifiable  and  indeed  necessary 
war  is  the  war  against  the  ravager  and  destroyer, 
the  enemy  of  liberty,  the  claimant  of  world-em- 
pire. More  and  more  the  thinkers  of  the  world 
see,  and  the  common  people  more  and  more  be- 
lieve instinctively,  that  the  cause  of  righteous 
liberty  is  the  cause  of  civilization.  In  the  con- 
ference which  will  one  day  meet  to  settle  the 
terms  of  peace,  and  therefore  the  future  con- 
ditions of  life  in  Europe,  the  example  of  the 
American  Republic  in  regard  to  armaments  and 
war,  the  publicity  of  treaties,  and  public  liberty, 
security,  and  prosperity  may  reasonably  have 
some  influence. 


CHAPTER  X 

CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN  CHARLES  W.  ELIOT 
AND  JACOB  H.  SCHIFF  ABOUT  THE  WAR,  BE- 
TWEEN NOVEMBER  24  AND  DECEMBER  14,  1914 

CAMBRIDGE,  MASS., 

November  24, 1914. 

DEAR  MR.  SCHIFF  :  — 

It  was  a  great  relief  to  me  to  read  just  now 
your  interview  in  the  New  York  Times  of  No- 
vember 22,  for  I  have  been  afraid  that  your 
judgment  and  mine,  concerning  the  desirable 
outcome  of  this  horrible  war,  were  very  dif- 
ferent. I  now  find  that  at  many  points  they 
coincide. 

One  of  my  strongest  hopes  is  that  one  result 
of  the  war  may  be  the  acceptance  by  the  lead- 
ing nations  of  the  world  of  the  precept  or  law 
—  there  shall  be  no  world-empire  for  any  single 
nation.  If  I  understand  you  correctly,  you  hold 
the  same  opinion.  You  wish  neither  Germany 
nor  England  to  possess  world-empire.  You  also 
look  forward,  as  I  do,  to  some  contract  or  agree- 
ment among  the  leading  nations  which  shall 
prevent  competitive  armaments.  I  entirely  agree 


130  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

•with  you  that  it  is  in  the  highest  degree  unde- 
sirable that  this  war  should  be  prolonged  to  the 
exhaustion  of  either  side. 

When,  however,  I  come  to  your  discussion 
of  the  means  by  which  a  good  result  toward 
European  order  and  peace  may  be  brought  out 
of  the  present  convulsion,  I  do  not  find  clear 
guidance  to  present  action  on  your  part  or 
mine,  or  on  the  part  of  our  Government  and 
people.  Was  it  your  thought  that  a  congress  of 
the  peoples  of  North  and  South  America  should 
now  be  convened  to  bring  to  bear  American 
opinion  on  the  actual  combatants  while  the  war 
is  going  on?  Or  is  it  your  thought  that  the 
American  nations  wait  until  there  is  a  lull  or 
pause  in  the  indecisive  fighting? 

So  far  as  I  can  judge  from  the  very  imperfect 
information  which  reaches  us  from  Germany, 
the  confidence  of  the  German  Emperor  and 
people  in  their  "  invincible  "  army  is  not  much 
abated,  although  it  clearly  ought  to  be.  It 
is  obvious  that  American  opinion  has  some 
weight  in  Germany;  but  has  it  enough  weight 
to  induce  Germany  to  abandon  her  intense  de- 
sire for  Belgium  and  Holland  and  extensive 
colonial  possessions  ?  To  my  thinking,  without 
the  abandonment  of  that  desire  and  ambition 


CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  MR.  SCHIFF     131 

on  the  part  of  Germany,  there  can  be  no  lasting 

peace  in  Europe  and  no  reduction  of  armaments. 

Sincerely  yours, 

CHARLES  W.  ELIOT. 


NEW  YORK, 

November  25, 1914. 

MY  DEAR  DR.  ELIOT  :  — 

I  am  just  in  receipt  of  your  thoughtful  letter 
of  yesterday,  which  it  has  given  me  genuine 
pleasure  to  receive.  While  it  is  true  that  I  have 
not  found  myself  in  accord  with  many  of  the 
views  to  which  you  have  given  public  expression 
concerning  the  responsibility  for  this  deplorable 
conflict,  and  the  unfortunate  conditions  it  has 
created,  I  never  doubted  that  as  to  its  desir- 
able outcome  we  would  find  ourselves  in  accord, 
and  I  am  very  glad  to  have  this  confirmed  by 
you,  though  as  to  this,  our  views  could  not 
have  diverged. 

As  to  the  means  by  which  a  desirable  re- 
sult toward  European  order  and  peace  may  be 
brought  about  out  of  the  chaos  which  has  be- 
come created,  it  is,  I  confess,  difficult  to  give 
guidance  at  present.  What  needs  first,  in  my 
opinion,  to  be  done,  is  to  bring  forth  a  healthy 
and  insistent  public  opinion  here  for  an  early 


132  THE  ROAD  TOWAED  PEACE 

peace  without  either  side  becoming  first  ex- 
hausted, and  it  was  my  purpose  in  the  inter- 
view I  have  given,  to  set  the  American  people 
thinking  concerning  this.  I  have  no  idea  that 
I  shall  have  immediate  success,  but  if  men  like 
you  and  others  follow  in  the  same  line,  I  am  sure 
American  public  opinion  can  before  long  be  made 
to  express  itself  emphatically  and  insistently  in 
favor  of  an  early  peace.  Without  this,  it  is  not 
unlikely  that  this  horrible  slaughter  and  destruc- 
tion may  continue  for  a  very,  very  long  time.  . 
Yours  most  faithfully, 

JACOB  H.  SCHIFF. 


CAMBRIDGE,  MASS., 

November  28, 1914. 

DEAR  MR.  SCHIFF  :  — 

I  think,  just  as  you  do,  that  the  thing  which 
most  needs  to  be  done  is  to  induce  Germany 
to  modify  its  present  opinion  that  the  nation 
must  fight  for  its  very  life  to  its  last  mark,  and 
the  last  drop  of  its  blood.  Now,  every  private 
letter  that  I  have  received  from  Germany,  and 
every  printed  circular,  pamphlet,  or  book  on 
the  war  which  has  come  to  me  from  German 
sources,  insists  on  the  view  that,  for  Germany, 
it  is  a  question  between  world-empire  or  utter 


CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  MR.  SCHIFF     133 

downfall.  There  is  no  sense  or  reason  in  this 
view,  but  the  German  philosophers,  historians, 
and  statesmen  are  all  maintaining  it  at  this 
moment. 

England,  France,  and  Russia  have  no  such 
expectations  or  desires  as  regards  the  fate  of 
Germany.  What  they  propose  to  do  is  to  put  a 
stop  to  Germany's  plan  of  attaining  world-em- 
pire by  militarism.  Have  you  any  means  of 
getting  into  the  minds  of  some  of  the  present 
rulers  of  Germany  the  idea  that  no  such  alter- 
native as  life  or  death  is  presented  to  Germany  in 
this  war,  and  that  the  people  need  only  abandon 
their  world-empire  ambitions,  while  securing 
safety  in  the  heart  of  Europe  and  a  chance  to 
develop  all  that  is  good  in  German  civilization  ? 
Sincerely  yours, 

CHARLES  W.  ELIOT. 

THE  GREENBRIER, 
WHITE  SULPHUR  SPRINGS, 
WEST  VIRGINIA. 
December  1, 1914. 

DEAR  DR.  ELIOT  :  — 

I  have  received  to-day  your  letter  of  the 
28th  ult.,  and  I  hasten  to  reply  to  it ;  for  I 
know  of  nought  that  is  of  more  importance 
than  the  discussion  between  earnest  men  of 


134  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

what  might  be  done  to  bring  to  cessation  this 
horrible  and  senseless  war. 

I  believe  you  are  mistaken  —  though  in  this 
I  am  stating  nothing,  absolutely,  but  my  per- 
sonal opinion  —  that  Germany  would  not  listen 
to  the  suggestion  for  a  restoration  of  peace  until 
it  has  either  come  into  a  position  to  dictate  the 
terms,  or  until  it  is  utterly  crushed.  Indeed;  I 
rather  feel,  and  I  have  indications  that  such  is 
the  case,  that  England  is  unwilling  to  stop  short 
of  crushing  Germany,  and  it  is  now  using  all 
the  influence  it  can  bring  to  bear  in  this  coun- 
try to  prevent  public  opinion  being  aroused  in 
favor  of  the  stoppage  of  hostilities  and  reestab- 
lishment  of  peace. 

The  same  mail  which  brought  your  letter  this 
morning  brought  me  also  a  letter  from  a  leading 
semi-military  man,  whom  I  know  by  name,  but 
not  personally.  It  is  so  fine  and  timely,  that 
I  venture  to  enclose  a  copy  for  your  perusal. 
Why  would  not  you,  and  perhaps  Dr.  Andrew 
D.  White,  who  —  is  it  not  a  coincidence?  —  has 
likewise  written  me  to-day  on  the  subject  of  my 
recent  Times  interview,  be  the  very  men  to  carry 
out  the  suggestions  made  by  my  correspondent  ? 

Perhaps  no  other  two  men  in  the  entire 
country  are  so  greatly  looked  up  to  by  its  peo- 


CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  MR.  SCHIFF     135 

pie  for  guidance  as  you  —  in  the  first  instance 
— and  Dr.  White.  You  could  surely  bestow  no 
greater  gift  upon  the  entire  civilized  world  than 
if  now,  in  the  evening  of  a  life  which  has  been 
of  such  great  value  to  mankind,  you  would  call 
around  you  a  number  of  leading,  earnest  Amer- 
icans with  the  view  of  discussing  and  framing 
plans  through  which  American  public  opinion 
could  be  crystallized  and  aroused  to  the  point 
where  it  will  insistently  demand  that  these  war- 
ring nations  come  together,  and,  with  the  expe- 
rience they  have  made  to  their  great  cost,  make 
at  least  an  attempt  to  find  a  way  out.  I  cannot 
but  believe  that  the  Governments  of  England, 
France,  and  Germany  —  if  not  Russia  —  will 
have  to  listen,  if  the  American  people  speak 
with  no  uncertain  voice.  Do  it  and  you  will  de- 
serve and  receive  the  blessing  of  this  and  of 
coming  generations ! 

Yours  most  faithfully, 

JACOB  H.  SCHIFF. 


CAMBRIDGE,  MASS., 

December  3,  1914. 

DEAR  MB.  SCHIFF:  — 

I  thank  you  for  your  letter  of  December  1 
and  its  interesting  enclosure. 


136  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

Although  every  thoughtful  person  must  ear- 
nestly desire  that  the  waste  and  destruction  of 
this  greatest  of  wars  should  be  stopped  as  soon 
as  possible,  there  is  an  overpowering  feeling 
that  the  war  should  go  on  until  all  the  com- 
batants, including  Germany,  have  been  brought 
to  see  that  the  governmental  regime  and  the 
state  of  the  public  mind  in  Germany  which  have 
made  this  war  possible  are  not  consistent  with 
the  security  and  well-being  of  Europe  in  the 
future. 

Personally,  I  feel  strongly  that  the  war  ought 
to  go  on  so  long  as  Germany  persists  in  its 
policies  of  world-empire,  dynastic  rule,  auto- 
cratic bureaucracy,  and  the  use  of  force  in  in- 
ternational dealings.  If  the  war  stops  before 
Germany  sees  that  those  policies  cannot  prevail 
in  twentieth-century  Europe,  the  horrible  wrongs 
and  evils  which  we  are  now  witnessing  will  recur; 
and  all  the  nations  will  have  to  continue  the 
destructive  process  of  competitive  armaments.  If 
peace  should  be  made  now,  before  the  Allies  have 
arrived  at  attacking  Germany  on  her  own  soil, 
there  would  result  only  a  truce  of  moderate 
length,  and  then  a  renewal  of  the  present  hor- 
rors. 

I  cannot  but  think  that  Europe  now  has  a 


CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  MR.  SCHIFF     137 

chance  to  make  a  choice  between  the  German 
ideal  of  the  State  and  the  Anglo-American  ideal. 
These  two  ideals  are  very  different;  and  the 
present  conflict  shows  that  they  cannot  coexist 
longer  in  modern  Europe. 

In  regard  to  the  suggestion  which  your  cor- 
respondent made  to  you  that  a  conference  of 
private  persons  should  now  be  called  in  the 
hope  of  arriving  at  an  agreed-upon  appeal  to 
the  combatants  to  desist  from  fighting  and  con- 
sider terms  of  settlement,  I  cannot  but  feel  (1) 
that  such  a  conference  would  have  no  assured 
status ;  (2)  that  the  combatants  would  not  listen ; 
and  (3)  that  the  effort  would,  therefore,  be  un- 
timely now,  though  perhaps  useful  later. 

One  idea  might  possibly  bring  about  peace, 
if  it  fructified  in  the  mind  of  the  German  Em- 
peror —  the  idea,  namely,  that  the  chance  of 
Germany's  obtaining  dominating  power  in  either 
Europe  or  the  world  having  already  gone,  the 
wise  thing  for  him  to  do  is  to  save  United  Ger- 
many within  her  natural  boundaries  for  secure 
development  as  a  highly  civilized,  strong  nation 
in  the  heart  of  Europe.  Surplus  population  can 
always  emigrate  happily  in  the  future  as  in  the 
past. 

The  security  of  Germany  would  rest,  how- 


138  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

ever,  on  an  international  agreement  to  be  main- 
tained by  an  international  force ;  whereas,  the 
example  which  Germany  has  just  given  of  the 
reckless  violation  of  international  agreements  is 
extremely  discouraging  in  regard  to  the  possi- 
bility of  securing  the  peace  of  Europe  in  the 
future. 

Although  this  war  has  already  made  quite  im- 
possible the  domination  of  Germany  in  Europe, 
or  in  the  world,  the  leaders  of  Germany  do  not 
yet  see  or  apprehend  that  impossibility.  Hence, 
many  earnest  peace-seekers  have  to  confess  that 
they  do  not  see  any  means  whatever  available 
for  promoting  peace  in  Europe  now,  or  even 
procuring  a  short  truce. 

I  wish  I  could  believe  with  you  that  the 
Governments  of  England,  France,  Germany, 
and  Russia  would  listen  to  the  voice  of  the 
American  people.  They  all  seem  to  desire  the 
good  opinion  and  moral  support  of  America; 
but  I  see  no  signs  that  they  would  take  Ameri- 
can advice,  or  imitate  American  example.  Presi- 
dent Wilson  seems  to  think  that  this  country 
will  be  accepted  as  a  kind  of  umpire  in  this  for- 
midable contest ;  but  surely  we  have  no  right  to 
any  such  position.  Our  example  in  avoiding 
aggression  on  other  nations,  and  in  declining 


CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  MR.  SCHIFF     139 

to  enter  the  contest  for  world-power,  ought  to 
have  some  effect  in  abating  European  ambitions 
in  that  direction  ;  but  our  exhortations  to  peace 
and  good-will  will,  I  fear,  have  little  influence. 
There  is  still  a  real  contest  on  between  democ- 
racy and  oligarchical  methods. 

You  see,  my  dear  Mr.  Schiff,  that  I  regard 
this  war  as  the  result  of  long-continuing  causes 
which  have  been  gathering  force  for  more  than 
fifty  years.  In  Germany,  all  the  forces  of  educa- 
tion, finance,  commercial  development,  a  pagan 
philosophy,  and  government  have  been  prepar- 
ing this  war  since  1860.  To  stop  it  now,  before 
these  forces  have  been  overwhelmingly  defeated, 
and  before  the  whole  German  people  is  con- 
vinced that  they  are  defeated,  would  be  to  leave 
humanity  exposed  to  the  certain  recurrence  of 
the  fearful  convulsion  we  are  now  witnessing. 

If  anybody  can  show  me  any  signs  that  the 
leaders  of  Germany  are  convinced  that  there  is 
to  be  no  world-empire  for  Germany  or  any  other 
nation,  and  no  despotic  Government  in  Europe, 
I  shall  be  ready  to  take  part  in  any  effectual 
advocacy  of  peace. 

Sincerely  yours, 

CHARLES  W.  ELIOT. 


140  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

NEW  YORK, 

December  6,  1914. 

DEAR  DR.  ELIOT:  — 

Your  letter  of  December  3  reached  me  this 
morning,  and  has  given  me  much  food  for 
thought. 

I  wish  I  could  follow  you  in  the  position  you 
have  taken ;  for  I  like  nought  better  than  to  sit 
at  the  feet  of  a  master  like  you  and  be  in- 
structed. But,  much  as  I  have  tried,  even  before 
our  recent  correspondence  was  begun,  to  get  at 
your  viewpoint  as  from  time  to  time  published, 
I  have  not  been  able  to  convince  myself  that 
you  occupy  a  correct  position.  Please  accept 
this  as  expressed  in  all  modesty,  for  I  know 
were  you  not  thoroughly  convinced  of  the  jus- 
tice of  the  position  you  have  taken  from  the 
start  you  would  not  be  so  determined  in  hold- 
ing to  it. 

I  am  perfectly  frank  to  say  that  I  am  amazed 
and  chagrined  when  you  say  that  you  feel 
strongly  that  the  war  ought  to  go  on  until  the 
Allies  have  arrived  at  attacking  Germany  on 
her  own  soil,  which,  if  this  is  at  all  likely  to 
come,  may  take  many  months  yet  and  will  mean 
sacrifice  of  human  life  on  both  sides  more  ap- 
palling than  anything  we  have  seen  yet  since 


CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  MR.  SCHIFF     141 

the  war  began.  So  you  are  willing  that,  with  all 
the  human  life  that  has  already  perished,  prac- 
tically the  entire  flower  of  the  warring  nations 
shall  become  exterminated  before  even  an  effort 
be  made  to  see  whether  these  nations  cannot  be 
brought  to  reason,  cannot  be  made  to  stop  and 
to  consider  whether,  with  the  experience  of  the 
past  four  months  before  them,  it  would  not  be 
better  to  even  now  make  an  effort  to  find  a  way 
in  which  the  causes  that  have  led  to  this  deplor- 
able conflict  can  be  once  and  forever  eradi- 
cated ? 

That  it  will  be  possible  to  find  at  this  time 
any  method  or  basis  through  the  adoption  of 
which  the  world  would  become  entirely  immune 
against  war  I  do  not  believe,  even  by  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  international  police  force  such 
as  you  and  others  appear  to  have  in  mind. 

The  perpetual  cessation  of  all  war  between 
the  civilized  nations  of  the  world  can,  as  I  see  it, 
only  be  brought  about  in  two  ways,  both  Uto- 
pian and  likely  impracticable  for  many  years  to 
come.  War  could  be  made  only  to  cease  entirely 
if  all  the  nations  of  Europe  could  be  organized 
into  a  United  States  of  Europe  and  if  free  trade 
were  established  throughout  the  world.  In  the 
first  instance,  the  extreme  nationalism,  which 


142  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

has  become  so  rampant  during  the  past  fifty 
years  and  which  has  been  more  or  less  at  the 
bottom  of  every  war,  would  then  cease  to  exist 
and  prevail,  and  in  the  second  event,  namely, 
if  free  trade  became  established  throughout  the 
world,  the  necessity  for  territorial  expansion 
and  aggression  would  no  longer  be  needed,  for, 
with  the  entire  world  open  on  equal  terms  to 
the  commerce  and  industry  of  every  nation, 
territorial  possession  would  not  be  much  of  a 
consideration  to  any  peoples. 

You  continually  lay  stress  upon  the  danger 
of  the  domination  of  Germany  in  Europe  and 
in  the  world.  I  believe  I  have  already  made  my- 
self quite  clear  in  my  recent  New  York  Times 
interview,  which  has  called  forth  this  corre- 
spondence between  us,  that  neither  would  I  wish 
to  have  Germany  come  into  a  position  where  it 
might  dominate  Europe,  and  more  or  less  the 
world,  nor  do  I  believe  that  the  German  na- 
tion, except  perhaps  a  handful  of  extremists, 
has  any  such  desires. 

I  believe  I  have  also  made  myself  quite  clear 
in  the  interview  to  which  I  have  referred  that 
my  feelings  are  not  anti-English,  for  I  shall 
never  forget  that  liberal  government  and  all 
forms  of  liberalism  have  had  their  origin,  ever 


CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  MR.  SCHIFF     143 

since  the  Magna  Charta,  in  that  great  nation 
whom  we  so  often  love  to  call  our  cousins.  But 
with  all  of  this,  can  you  ignore  the  fact  that 
England  even  to-day,  without  the  further  power 
and  prestige  victory  in  the  present  conflict 
would  give  her,  practically  dominates  the  high 
seas,  that  she  treats  the  ocean  as  her  own  and 
enforces  her  dictates  upon  the  waters  even  to 
our  very  shores  ?  That  this  is  true  the  past  four 
months  have  amply  proved. 

I  am  not  one  of  those  who  fear  that  the 
United  States,  as  far  as  can  now  be  foreseen, 
will  get  into  any  armed  conflict  with  Great 
Britain  or  with  Japan,  her  permanent  ally,  but 
I  can  well  understand  that  many  in  our  country 
are  of  a  different  opinion,  and  it  takes  no  pro- 
phet to  foresee  that,  with  England  coming  out 
of  this  war  victorious  and  her  and  Japan's 
power  on  the  high  seas  increased,  the  demand 
from  a  large  section  of  our  people  for  the  ac- 
quisition and  possession  by  the  United  States  of 
an  increased  powerful  navy  and  for  the  erection 
of  vast  coast  defenses,  both  on  the  Atlantic  and 
Pacific  shores,  will  become  so  insistent  that  it  can- 
not be  withstood.  What  this  will  mean  to  the 
American  people  in  lavish  expenditures  and  in  in- 
creased taxation  I  need  not  here  further  go  into. 


144  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

Yes,  my  dear  and  revered  friend,  I  can  see 
nought  but  darkness  if  a  way  cannot  be  soon 
found  out  of  the  present  deplorable  situation  as 
it  exists  in  Europe. 

But  even  if  the  Allies  are  victorious,  it  will 
mean,  as  I  am  convinced,  the  beginning  of  the 
descent  of  England  as  the  world's  leader  and  the> 
hastened  ascendency  of  Russia,  who,  not  to-day 
or  to-morrow,  but  in  times  to  come,  is  sure  to 
crowd  out  England  from  the  world's  leadership. 
A  Russia  that  will  have  become  democratic  in 
its  government,  be  it  as  a  republic  or  under  a 
truly  constitutional  monarchy ;  a  Russia  in  which 
education  will  be  as  free  as  it  is  in  our  own 
country ;  a  Russia  in  which  the  people  can  move 
about  and  make  homes  in  the  vast  territory  she 
possesses  wherever  they  can  find  most  happi- 
ness and  prosperity ;  a  Russia  with  its  vast  nat- 
ural resources  of  every  kind  fully  developed,  is 
bound  to  be  the  greatest  and  most  powerful 
nation  on  the  earth. 

But  I  am  going  too  far  into  the  future  and  I 
must  return  to  the  sad  and  deplorable  present. 
I  only  wanted  to  show  how  England's  alliance 
with  this  present-day  Russia  and  its  despotic, 
autocratic,  and  inhuman  Government  may,  if 
the  Allies  shall  be  victorious,  prove  possibly  in 


CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  MR.  SCHIFF     145 

the  nearer  future,  but  certainly  in  the  long  run, 
England's  Nemesis. 

Before  closing  I  want  to  correct  the  impres- 
sion you  appear  to  have  received  that  I  have 
meant  to  suggest  a  conference  of  private  per- 
sons for  the  purpose  of  agreeing  upon  an  appeal 
by  them  to  the  nations  of  Europe  to  desist  from 
fighting  and  consider  terms  of  settlement.  I 
know  this  would  be  entirely  impracticable  and 
useless,  but  what  I  meant  to  convey  to  you  was 
my  conviction  that  if  you  and  men  like  you,  of 
whom  I  confess  there  are  but  too  few,  were  to 
make  the  endeavor  to  rouse  public  opinion  in 
the  United  States  to  a  point  where  it  should 
insistently  demand  that  this  terrible  carnage  of 
blood  and  destruction  cease,  it  would  not  be 
long  before  these  warring  Governments  would 
take  notice  of  such  sentiments  on  the  part  of 
the  American  people ;  and  what  should  be  done 
at  once  is  the  stoppage  of  the  furnishing  of 
munitions  of  war  to  any  of  the  belligerents,  as 
is  unfortunately  done  to  so  great  an  extent  at 
present  from  this  country. 

We  freely  and  abundantly  give  to  the  Red 
Cross  and  the  many  other  relief  societies,  but 
we  do  this,  even  if  indirectly,  out  of  the  very 
profits  we  derive  from  the  war  material  we  sell 


146       THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

to  the  belligerents,  and  with  which  the  wounds 
the  Red  Cross  and  other  relief  societies  en- 
deavor to  assuage  are  inflicted. 

Yours  most  faithfully, 

JACOB  H.  SCHIFF. 


CAMBRIDGE,  MASS., 

December  8,  1914. 

DEAR  MR.  SCHIFF  :  — 

Your  letter  of  December  5  tells  me  what  the 
difference  is  between  you  and  me  in  respect  to 
the  outcome  of  the  war  —  I  am  much  more 
hopeful  or  sanguine  of  the  world's  getting  good 
out  of  it  than  you  are.  Since  you  do  not  hope 
to  get  any  good  to  speak  of  out  of  it,  you  want 
to  stop  it  as  soon  as  possible.  You  look  forward 
to  future  war  from  time  to  time  between  the 
nations  of  Europe  and  to  the  maintenance  of 
competitive  armaments.  You  think  that  the  lust 
of  dominion  must  continue  to  be  felt  and  grat- 
ified, now  by  one  nation  and  now  by  another ; 
that  Great  Britain  can  gratify  it  now,  but  that 
she  will  be  overpowered  by  Russia  by  and  by. 

I  am  unwilling  to  accept  these  conditions  for 
Europe,  or  for  the  world,  without  urging  the 
freer  nations  to  make  extraordinary  efforts  to 
reach  a  better  solution  of  the  European  inter- 


CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  MR.  SCHIFF     147 

national  problem  which,  unsolved,  has  led  down 
to  this  horrible  pit  of  general  war. 

I  have  just  finished  another  letter  to  the 
New  York  Times,  which  will  probably  be  in 
print  by  the  time  you  get  back  to  New  York, 
so  I  will  not  trouble  you  with  any  exposition 
of  the  grounds  of  my  hopefulness.  It  is  be- 
cause I  am  hopeful  that  I  want  to  see  this  war 
fought  out  until  Germany  is  persuaded  that  she 
cannot  dominate  Europe,  or,  indeed,  make  her 
will  prevail  anywhere  by  force  of  arms.  When 
that  change  of  mind  has  been  effected,  I  hope 
that  Germany  will  become  a  member  of  a  fed- 
eration firm  enough  and  powerful  enough  to 
prevent  any  single  nation  from  aiming  at  world- 
empire,  or  even  pouncing  on  a  smaller  neighbor. 

There  is  another  point  on  which  I  seem  to 
differ  from  you  :  I  do  not  believe  that  any  single 
nation  has  now,  or  can  ever  hereafter  have,  the 
leadership  of  the  world,  whereas  you  look  for- 
ward to  the  existence  of  such  leadership  or 
domination  in  the  hands  of  a  single  great 
power.  Are  there  not  many  signs  already,  both 
in  the  East  and  in  the  West,  that  the  time 
has  passed  for  world-empire? 

Very  sincerely  and  cordially  yours, 

CHARLES  W.  ELIOT. 


148  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

NEW  YORK, 

December  14,  1914. 

DEAR  DR.  ELIOT  :  — 

I  have  delayed  replying  to  your  valued  letter 
of  the  8th  inst.  until  after  the  appearance  of 
your  further  letter  to  the  New  York  Times,  to 
which  you  had  made  reference,  and,  like  every- 
thing emanating  from  you,  the  contents  of  your 
last  Times  letter  have  evoked  my  deepest  in- 
terest. 

Had  our  recent  correspondence  not  already 
become  more  extended  than  you  likely  had  in- 
tended it  to  become  when  you  first  wrote  me  on 
the  subject  of  my  Times  interview  of  some 
weeks  ago,  I  should  go  into  your  latest  argu- 
ments at  greater  length.  As  it  is,  I  shall  only 
reiterate  that  I  find  myself  unable  to  follow 
you  in  your  belief  and  hope,  that  world-empire 
and  world-leadership,  as  this  now  exists,  is  likely 
to  cease  as  a  consequence  of  the  present  war, 
much  as  we  all  may  desire  this. 

England  has  taken  up  arms  to  retain  her 
world-dominion  and  leadership  ;  and  to  gain  it, 
Germany  is  fighting.  How  can  you,  then,  expect 
that  England,  if  victorious,  would  be  willing  to 
surrender  her  control  of  the  oceans  and  the  do- 
minion over  the  trade  of  the  world  she  possesses 


CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  MR.  8CHIFF     149 

in  consequence,  and  where  is  there,  then,  room 
for  the  hope  you  express  that  world-leadership 
may  become  a  thing  of  the  past  with  the  term- 
ination of  the  present  conflict? 

I  repeat,  with  all  my  attachment  for  my  na- 
tive land  and  its  people,  I  have  no  inimical 
feeling  toward  England,  have  warm  sentiments 
for  France,  and  the  greatest  compassion  for 
brave,  stricken  Belgium. 

Thus,  "  with  malice  toward  none,"  and  with 
the  highest  respect  for  your  expressed  views,  I 
am  still  of  the  opinion  that  there  can  be  no 
greater  service  rendered  to  mankind  than  to 
make  the  effort,  either  through  the  force  of  the 
public  opinion  of  the  two  Americas  or  other- 
wise, to  bring  these  warring  Governments  to- 
gether at  an  early  moment,  even  if  this  can 
only  be  done  without  stopping  their  conflict,  so 
that  they  may  make  the  endeavor,  whether  — 
with  their  costly  experience  of  the  last  five 
months,  with  the  probability  that  they  now 
know  better  what  need  be  done  to  make  the 
extreme  armaments  on  land  and  sea  as  unneces- 
sary as  they  are  undesirable  in  the  future  —  a 
basis  cannot  be  found  upon  which  disarmament 
can  be  effectively  and  permanently  brought 
about. 


150  THE  EOAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

This,  at  some  time,  they  will  have  to  come 
to,  in  any  event,  and  must  there  first  more  hu- 
man lives  be  sacrificed  into  the  hundreds  and 
hundreds  of  thousands,  and  still  greater  havoc 
be  wrought,  before  passions  can  be  made  to 
cease  and  reason  be  made  to  return  ? 

If,  as  you  seem  to  think,  the  war  need  go 
on  until  one  country  is  beaten  into  a  condi- 
tion where  it  must  accept  the  terms  the  victor 
chooses  to  impose,  because  it  can  no  longer 
help  itself  to  do  else,  the  peace  thus  obtained 
will  only  be  the  harbinger  of  another  war  in 
the  near  or  distant  future,  bloodier  proba- 
bly than  the  present  sanguinary  conflict,  and 
through  no  compact  which  might  be  entered 
into  will  it  be  possible  to  actually  prevent  this. 

Twenty  centuries  ago  Christianity  came  into 
the  world  with  its  lofty  message  of  "  peace  on 
earth  and  good-will  to  men,"  and  now,  after 
two  thousand  years,  and  at  the  near  approach 
of  the  season  when  Christianity  celebrates  the 
birth  of  its  founder,  it  is  insisted  that  the  merci- 
less slaughter  of  man  by  man  we  have  been 
witnessing  these  last  months  must  be  permitted 
to  be  continued  into  the  infinite. 
Most  faithfully  yours, 

JACOB  H.  SCHIFF. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  WAR  AN  UNPRECEDENTED  CALAMITY,  DUE 
TO  AUTOCRACY,  MILITARISM,  SECRET  BU- 
REAUCRACY, AND  LUST  OP  EMPIRE SHALL 

IT  BRING  FORTH  A  COUNCIL  OF  EUROPE,  AN 
INTERNATIONAL  FORCE,  ABOVE-BOARD  DI- 
PLOMACY, AND  REDUCTION  OF  ARMAMENTS?1 

THE  great  war  has  now  been  going  on  long 
enough  to  enable  mankind  to  form  approxi- 
mately correct  views  about  its  vast  extent  and 
scale  of  operations,  its  sudden  interference  with 
commerce  and  all  other  helpful  international 
intercourse,  its  unprecedented  wrecking  o£ 
family  happiness  and  continuity,  its  wiping  out, 
as  it  proceeds,  of  the  accumulated  savings  of 
many  former  generations  in  structures,  objects 
of  art,  and  industrial  capital,  and  the  huge  bur- 
dens it  is  likely  to  impose  on  twentieth-century 
Europe.  From  all  these  points  of  view,  it  is 
evidently  the  most  horrible  calamity  that  has 
ever  befallen  the  human  race,  and  the  most 
crucial  trial  to  which  civilization  has  been  ex- 

1  A  letter  published  in  the  New  York  Times  December  11, 
1914. 


152  THE  ROAD   TOWARD  PEACE 

posed.  It  is,  and  is  to  be,  the  gigantic  struggle 
of  these  times  between  the  forces  which  make 
for  liberty  and  righteousness  and  those  which 
make  for  the  subjection  of  the  individual  man, 
the  exaltation  of  the  state,  and  the  enthrone- 
ment of  physical  force  directed  by  a  ruthless 
collective  will.  It  threatens  a  sweeping  betrayal 
of  the  best  hopes  of  mankind. 

Each  of  the  nations  involved,  horrified  at  the 
immensity  of  the  disaster,  maintains  that  it  is 
not  responsible  for  the  war ;  and  each  Govern- 
ment has  issued  a  statement  to  prove  that  some 
other  Government  is  responsible  for  the  out- 
break. This  discussion,  however,  relates  almost 
entirely  to  actions  by  monarchs  and  cabinets 
between  July  23  and  August  4  —  a  short  period 
of  hurried  messages  between  the  chancelleries 
of  Europe  —  actions  which  only  prove  that  the 
monarchs  and  ministers  for  foreign  affairs  could 
not,  or  at  least  did  not,  prevent  the  long-prepared 
general  war  from  breaking  out.  The  assassina- 
tion of  the  Archduke  and  Duchess  of  Hohen- 
berg,  on  the  28th  of  June,  was  in  no  proper 
sense  a  cause  of  the  war,  except  as  it  was  one 
of  the  consequences  of  the  persistent  aggres- 
sions of  Austria-Hungary  against  her  south- 
eastern neighbors.  Neither  was  Russian  mobil- 


SHALL  THE  WAR  BRING  LASTING  PEACE?      153 

ization  in  four  military  districts  on  July  29  a 
cause  of  the  war;  for  that  was  only  an  external 
manifestation  of  the  Russian  state  of  mind  to- 
ward the  Balkan  peoples,  a  state  of  mind  well 
known  to  all  publicists  ever  since  the  Treaty  of 
Berlin  in  1878.  No  more  was  the  invasion  of 
Belgium  by  the  German  army  on  August  4  a 
true  cause  of  the  war,  or  even  the  cause,  as  dis- 
tinguished from  the  occasion,  of  Great  Britain's 
becoming  involved  in  it.  By  that  action,  Ger- 
many was  only  taking  the  first  step  in  carrying 
out  a  long-cherished  purpose,  and  in  executing 
a  judicious  plan  of  campaign  prepared  many 
years  in  advance.  The  artificial  panic  in  Ger- 
many about  its  exposed  position  between  two 
powerful  enemies,  France  and  Russia,  was  not 
a  genuine  cause  of  the  war  ;  for  the  General 
Staff  knew  they  had  crushed  France  once,  and 
were  confident  they  could  do  it  again  in  a  month. 
As  to  Russia,  it  was,  in  their  view,  a  huge  na- 
tion, but  very  clumsy  and  dull  in  war. 

The  real  causes  of  the  war  are  all  of  many 
years'  standing ;  and  all  the  nations  now  in- 
volved in  the  fearful  catastrophe  have  contrib- 
uted to  the  development  of  one  or  more  of  these 
effective  causes.  The  fundamental  causes  are: 
(1)  The  maintenance  of  monarchical  Govern- 


154  THE  ROAD   TOWAED  PEACE 

ments,  each  sanctioned  and  supported  by  the 
national  religion,  and  each  furnished  with  a 
cabinet  selected  by  the  monarch,  —  Govern- 
ments which  can  make  war  without  any  previ- 
ous consultation  of  the  peoples  through  their 
elected  representatives ;  (2)  the  constant  mainte- 
nance of  conscript  armies,  through  which  the 
entire  able-bodied  male  population  is  trained  in 
youth  for  service  in  the  army  or  navy,  and  re- 
mains subject  to  the  instant  call  of  the  Gov- 
ernment till  late  in  life,  the  officering  of  these 
permanent  armies  involving  the  creation  of  a 
large  military  class  likely  to  become  powerful  in 
political,  industrial,  and  social  administration  ; 
(3)  the  creation  of  a  strong,  permanent  bureau- 
cracy within  each  nation  for  the  management 
of  both  foreign  and  domestic  affairs,  much  of 
whose  work  is  kept  secret  from  the  public  at 
large;  and  finally,  (4)  the  habitual  use  of  mili- 
tary and  naval  forces  to  acquire  new  territories, 
contiguous  or  detached,  without  regard  to  the 
wishes  of  the  people  annexed  or  controlled.  This 
last  cause  of  the  war  is  the  most  potent  of 
the  four,  since  it  is  strong  in  itself,  and  is 
apt  to  include  one  or  more  of  the  other  three. 
It  is  the  gratification  of  the  lust  for  world- 
empire. 


SHALL  TEE  WAR  BRING  LASTING  PEACE?      155 

Of  all  the  nations  taking  part  in  the  present 
war,  Great  Britain  is  the  only  one  which  does 
not  maintain  a  conscript  army ;  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  Great  Britain  is  the  earliest  modern  claim- 
ant of  world-empire  by  force,  with  the  single 
exception  of  Spain,  which  long  since  abandoned 
that  quest.  Every  one  of  these  nations  except 
little  Servia  has  yielded  to  the  lust  for  empire. 
Every  one  has  permitted  its  monarch  or  its 
cabinet  to  carry  on  secret  negotiations  liable  at 
any  time  to  commit  the  nation  to  war,  or  to  fail 
in  maintaining  the  peace  of  Europe  or  of  the 
Near  East.  In  the  crowded  diplomatic  events  of 
last  July,  no  phenomenon  is  more  striking  than 
the  exhibition  of  the  power  which  the  British 
people  confide  to  the  hands  of  their  Foreign 
Secretary.  In  the  interests  of  public  liberty  and 
public  welfare  no  official  should  possess  such 
powers  as  Sir  Edward  Grey  used  admirably  — 
though  in  vain  —  last  July.  In  all  three  of  the 
empires  engaged  in  the  war  there  has  long  ex- 
isted a  large  military  caste  which  exerts  a  strong 
influence  on  the  Government  and  its  policies, 
and  on  the  daily  life  of  the  people. 

These  being  the  real  causes  of  the  terrific 
convulsion  now  going  on  in  Europe,  it  cannot 


156  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

be  questioned  that  the  nation  in  which  these 
complex  causes  have  taken  strongest  and  most 
complete  effect  during  the  last  fifty  years  is 
Germany.  Her  form  of  government  has  been 
imperialistic  and  autocratic  in  the  highest  de- 
gree. She  has  developed  with  great  intelligence 
and  assiduity  the  most  formidable  conscript 
army  in  the  world,  and  the  most  influential  and 
insolent  military  caste.  Three  times  since  1864 
she  has  waged  war  in  Europe,  and  each  time 
she  has  added  to  her  territory  without  regard 
to  the  wishes  of  the  annexed  population.  For 
twenty-five  years  she  has  exhibited  a  keen  de- 
sire to  obtain  colonial  possessions;  and  since 
1896  she  has  been  aggressive  in  this  field.  In 
her  schools  and  universities  the  children  and 
youth  have  been  taught  for  generations  that 
Germany  is  surrounded  by  hostile  peoples,  that 
her  expansion  in  Europe  and  in  other  continents 
is  resisted  by  jealous  powers  which  started  ear- 
lier in  the  race  for  foreign  possessions,  and  that 
the  salvation  of  Germany  has  depended  from 
the  first,  and  will  depend  till  the  last,  on  the 
efficiency  of  her  army  and  navy  and  the  war- 
like spirit  of  her  people.  This  instruction,  given 
year  after  year  by  teachers,  publicists,  and 
rulers,  was  first  generally  accepted  in  Prussia, 


SHALL  THE  WAR  BRING  LASTING  PEACE?      157 

but  now  seems  to  be  accepted  by  the  entire 
empire  as  unified  in  1871. 

The  attention  of  the  civilized  world  was  first 
called  to  this  state  of  the  German  mind  and 
will  by  the  triumphant  policies  of  Bismarck;  but 
during  the  reign  of  the  present  Emperor  the 
external  aggressiveness  of  Germany  and  her 
passion  for  world-empire  have  grown  to  much 
more  formidable  proportions.  Although  the 
German  Emperor  has  sometimes  played  the 
part  of  the  peacemaker,  he  has  habitually  acted 
the  war-lord  in  both  speech  and  bearing,  and 
has  supported  the  military  caste  whenever  it  has 
been  assailed.  He  is  by  inheritance,  conviction, 
and  practice  a  divine-right  sovereign  whose 
throne  rests  on  an  "  invincible  "  army,  an  army 
conterminous  with  the  nation.  In  the  present 
tremendous  struggle  he  carries  his  subjects  with 
him  in  a  rushing  torrent  of  self -sacrificing  patri- 
otism. Mass-fanaticism  and  infectious  enthusi- 
asm seem  to  have  deprived  the  leading  class  in 
Germany,  for  the  moment,  of  all  power  to  see, 
reason,  and  judge  correctly  —  no  new  phenome- 
non in  the  world,  but  instructive  in  this  case 
because  it  points  to  the  grave  defect  in  German 
education  —  the  lack  of  liberty  and,  therefore, 
of  practice  in  self-control. 


158  THE  ROAD  TOWAED  PEACE 

The  twentieth-century  educated  German  is, 
however,  by  no  means  given  over  completely  to 
material  and  physical  aggrandizement  and  the 
worship  of  might.  He  cherishes  a  partly  new 
conception  of  the  state  as  a  collective  entity 
whose  function  is  to  develop  and  multiply,  not 
the  free,  healthy,  and  happy  individual  man 
and  woman,  but  higher  and  more  effective  types 
of  humanity,  made  superior  by  a  strenuous 
discipline  which  takes  much  account  of  the 
strong  and  ambitious,  and  little  of  the  weak  or 
meek.  He  rejects  the  ethics  of  the  Beatitudes 
as  unsound,  but  accepts  the  religion  of  Valor, 
which  exalts  strength,  courage,  endurance,  and 
the  ready  sacrifice  by  the  individual  of  liberty, 
happiness,  and  life  itself  for  Germany's  honor 
and  greatness.  A  nation  of  sixty  millions  hold- 
ing these  philosophical  and  religious  views,  and 
proposing  to  act  on  them  in  winning  by  force 
the  empire  of  the  world,  threatens  civilization 
with  more  formidable  irruptions  of  a  destroy- 
ing host  than  any  that  history  has  recorded. 
The  rush  of  the  German  army  into  Belgium, 
France,  and  Eussia  and  its  consequences  to 
those  lands  have  taught  the  rest  of  Europe  to 
dread  German  domination,  and  —  it  is  to  be 
hoped  —  to  make  it  impossible. 


SHALL  TUE  WAR  BEING  LASTING  PEACE?      159 

The  real  cause  of  the  present  convulsion  is, 
then,  the  state  of  mind  or  temper  of  Germany, 
including  her  conception  of  national  greatness, 
her  theory  of  the  State,  and  her  intelligent  and 
skilful  use  of  all  the  forces  of  nineteenth-cen- 
tury applied  science  for  the  destructive  pur- 
poses of  war.  It  is,  therefore,  apparent  that 
Europe  can  escape  from  the  domination  of 
Germany  only  by  defeating  her  in  her  present 
undertakings;  and  that  this  defeat  can  be 
brought  about  only  by  using  against  her  the 
same  effective  agencies  of  destruction  and  the 
same  martial  spirit  on  which  Germany  itself 
relies.  Horrible  as  are  the  murderous  and  de- 
vastating effects  of  this  war,  there  can  be  no 
lasting  peace  until  Europe  as  a  whole  is  ready 
to  make  some  serious  and  far-reaching  deci- 
sions in  regard  to  governmental  structures  and 
powers.  In  all  probability  the  sufferings  and 
losses  of  this  widespread  war  must  go  farther 
and  cut  deeper  before  Europe  can  be  brought 
to  the  decisions  which  alone  can  give  securities 
for  lasting  peace  against  Germany  on  the  one 
hand  and  Russia  on  the  other,  or  to  either  of 
these  nations,  or  can  give  security  for  the  fu- 
ture to  any  of  the  smaller  nations  of  Continen- 
tal Europe.  There  can,  indeed,  be  no  security 


160  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

for  future  peace  in  Europe  until  every  Euro- 
pean nation  recognizes  the  fact  that  there  is  to 
be  no  such  thing  in  the  world  as  one  dominat- 
ing nation  —  no  such  thing  as  world-empire 
for  any  single  nation  —  Great  Britain,  Ger- 
many, Russia,  Japan,  or  China.  There  can  be 
no  sense  of  security  against  sudden  invasion  in 
Europe  so  long  as  all  the  able-bodied  men  are 
trained  to  be  soldiers,  and  the  best  possible  ar- 
mies are  kept  constantly  ready  for  instant  use. 
There  can  be  no  secure  peace  in  Europe  until 
a  federation  of  the  European  states  is  estab- 
lished, capable  of  making  public  contracts  in- 
tended to  be  kept,  and  backed  by  an  over- 
whelming international  force  subject  to  the 
orders  of  an  international  tribunal.  The  pres- 
ent convulsion  demonstrates  the  impotence 
toward  permanent  peace  of  secret  negotiations, 
of  unpublished  agreements,  of  treaties  and  cov- 
enants that  can  be  broken  on  grounds  of  mili- 
tary necessity,  of  international  law  if  without 
sanctions,  of  pious  wishes,  of  economic  and 
biological  predictions,  and  of  public  opinion 
unless  expressed  through  a  firm  international 
agreement,  behind  which  stands  an  interna- 

o  ' 

tional  force.  When  that  international  force  has 
been  firmly  established  it  will  be  time  to  con- 


SHALL  THE  WAR  BRING  LASTING  PEACE?      161 

sicler  what  proportionate  reductions  in  national 
armaments  can  be  prudently  recommended. 
Until  that  glorious  day  dawns,  no  patriot  and 
no  lover  of  his  kind  can  expect  lasting  peace  in 
Europe  or  wisely  advocate  any  reduction  of 
armaments. 

The  hate-breeding  and  worse  than  brutal 
cruelties  and  devastations  of  the  war  with  their 
inevitable  moral  and  physical  degradations 
ought  to  shock  mankind  into  attempting  a 
great  step  forward.  Europe  and  America  should 
undertake  to  exterminate  the  real  causes  of  the 
catastrophe.  In  studying  that  problem  the  com- 
ing European  conference  can  profit  by  the  ex- 
perience of  the  three  prosperous  and  valid  coun- 
tries in  which  public  liberty  and  the  principle 
of  federation  have  been  most  successfully  de- 
veloped—  Switzerland,  Great  Britain,  and  the 
United  States.  Switzerland  is  a  democratic  fed- 
eration which  unites  in  a  firm  federal  bond 
three  different  racial  stocks  speaking  three  un- 
like languages,  and  divided  locally  and  irreg- 
ularly between  the  Catholic  Church  and  the 
Protestant.  The  so-called  British  Empire  tends 
strongly  to  become  a  federation  ;  and  the  meth- 
ods of  government  both  in  Great  Britain  itself 
and  in  its  affiliated  commonwealths  are  becom- 


162  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

ing  more  and  more  democratic  in  substance. 
The  war  has  brought  this  fact  out  in  high  re- 
lief. As  to  the  United  States,  it  is  a  strong  fed- 
eration of  forty-eight  heterogeneous  States 
which  has  been  proving  for  a  hundred  years 
that  freedom  and  democracy  are  safer  and  hap- 
pier for  mankind  than  subjection  to  any  sort 
of  autocracy,  and  afford  far  the  best  training 
for  national  character  and  national  efficiency. 
Republican  France  has  not  yet  had  time  to  give 
this  demonstration,  being  encumbered  with 
many  survivals  of  the  Bourbon  and  Napoleonic 
regimes,  and  being  forced  to  maintain  a  con- 
script army. 

It  is  an  encouraging  fact  that  every  one  of 
the  political  or  governmental  changes  needed 
is  already  illustrated  in  the  practice  of  one  or 
more  of  the  civilized  nations.  To  exaggerate 
the  necessary  changes  is  to  postpone  or  prevent 
a  satisfactory  outcome  from  the  present  calcu- 
lated destructions  and  wrongs  and  the  accom- 
panying moral  and  religious  chaos.  Ardent 
proposals  to  remake  the  map  of  Europe,  recon- 
struct European  society,  substitute  republics 
for  empires,  and  abolish  armaments  are  in  fact 
obstructing  the  road  toward  peace  and  good- 
will among  men.  That  road  is  hard  at  best. 


SHALL  THE  WAR  BRING  LASTING  PEACE?      163 

The  immediate  duty  of  the  United  States  is 
presumably  to  prepare,  on  the  basis  of  its  pres- 
ent army  and  navy,  to  furnish  an  effective  quota 
of  the  international  force,  servant  of  an  inter- 
national tribunal,  which  will  make  the  ultimate 
issue  of  this  most  abominable  of  wars,  not  a 
truce,  but  a  durable  peace. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  American  peoples  cry 
with  one  voice  to  the  German  people,  like 
Ezekiel  to  the  House  of  Israel  — "  Turn  ye, 
turn  ye  from  your  evil  ways  ;  for  why  will  ye 
die?" 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE    PILGRIMS*    IDEALS A    FREE    CHURCH    IN 

A   FREE    STATE   IN   1620  * 

RECENT  events  in  Europe  have  satisfied  many 
Americans  that  the  essential  difference  between 
nations  is  a  difference  of  ideals.  Thus,  the  prin- 
cipal ideals  of  Germany  are  national  efficiency 
through  a  forceful  discipline,  and  domination 
over  other  peoples  as  the  result  of  that  effi- 
ciency, while  the  governmental  or  political  ideals 
of  Great  Britain  since  Cromwell's  Common- 
wealth have  always  contained  a  large  element 
of  public  liberty  and  individual  independence. 
The  fundamental  cause  of  the  European  war  is 
the  difference  in  the  ideals  of  government,  na- 
tional greatness,  and  national  welfare  of  Ger- 
many and  Austria  on  the  one  hand,  and  France 
and  Great  Britain  on  the  other.  The  principal 
difference  between  the  people  of  the  United 
States  and  the  nations  of  Europe  is  a  difference 
of  ideals  concerning  human  welfare  and  the 
means  of  promoting  it,  the  ideals  of  the  United 

1  An  address  on  Forefathers'  Day,  1914,   before  the  New 
England  Society  in  the  City  of  New  York. 


A  FREE  CHURCH  IN  A  FREE  STATE  IN  1620     165 

States  containing  a  much  larger  element  of  lib- 
erty and  independence  for  the  individual,  and 
of  public  confidence  in  the  fruits  of  individual 
liberty,  than  any  European  nation  exhibits,  ex- 
cept Switzerland.  In  order  that  different  races 
or  stocks  should  live  peacefully  and  helpfully 
beside  each  other  under  the  same  free  govern- 
ments, conjoined  but  not  commingled,  as  in  the 
United  States  of  to-day,  it  is  only  necessary  that 
they  should  all  come  to  cherish  the  same  ideals 
of  public  liberty,  public  justice,  and  cooperative 
management.  That  is  the  true  assimilation  of 
different  stocks  or  races,  and  none  other  is 
needed. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  present  ideals  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States  are  in  a  large  meas- 
ure identical  with  the  ideals  which  were  dear 
to  the  Pilgrim  First-comers  or  Forefathers,  who, 
to  the  number  of  233,  landed  at  Plymouth  be- 
tween December,  1620,  and  July,  1623.  These 
were  the  Separatist  immigrants,  who  had  suf- 
fered severely  in  England  for  conscience'  sake, 
and  had  dared  the  perils  of  the  ocean  and  the 
wilderness  to  found  a  new  commonwealth  where 
they  might  enjoy  freedom  to  worship  God  in 
the  way  they  preferred.  I  wish  to  review  this 
evening  the  ideals  of  the  Pilgrims,  and  to  point 


166  THE  ROAD   TOWARD  PEACE 

out  in  what  measure  their  ideals  have  become 
those  of  the  American  people. 

The  most  precious  of  the  Pilgrim  ideals  was 
that  of  civil  and  religious  liberty.  It  was  a  re- 
ligious bond  which  held  them  together  in  their 
flight  from  Scrooby  at  great  loss  and  under 
many  hardships,  and  during  their  twelve  years' 
exile  in  Holland,  where  by  great  industry  and 
frugality  a  few  of  them  repaired  somewhat  their 
broken  fortunes.  It  was  a  religious  motive  which 
governed  the  adult  males  of  the  Mayflower  com- 
pany, only  forty-one  in  number,  in  signing  a 
compact,  just  before  they  landed  on  the  Massa- 
chusetts shore,  by  which  they  set  up  a  govern- 
ment that  rested  exclusively  on  the  consent  of 
those  to  be  governed  and  on  manhood  suffrage. 
These  few  plain  men  then  and  there  did  an  im- 
mortal deed,  the  sudden  fruitage  of  the  experi- 
ence of  their  church  in  England  and  in  Hol- 
land, and  of  the  doctrines  taught  them  by  their 
pastor  and  elders.  The  words  of  that  compact 
cannot  be  too  often  quoted :  "  We,  whose  names 
are  under  written,  .  .  .  having  undertaken  for 
the  glory  of  God  and  advancement  of  the  Chris- 
tian faith,  and  honor  of  our  King  and  country, 
to  plant  the  first  colony  in  the  northern  parts 


A  FREE  CHURCH  IN  A  FREE  STATE  IN  1620      167 

of  Virginia,  do,  by  these  presents,  solemnly  and 
mutually  in  the  presence  of  God  and  of  one 
another,  covenant  and  bind  ourselves  together 
into  a  civil  body  politic  for  our  better  ordering 
and  preservation,  and  furtherance  of  the  ends 
aforesaid."  That  is  the  ideal  origin  for  a  free 
state.  By  following  that  ideal,  town,  city,  and 
state  governments  have  been  firmly  planted  all 
across  the  American  continent.  By  how  many 
generations  were  the  signers  of  that  compact 
in  advance  of  their  times  ?  Let  the  Schleswig- 
Holstein  of  1864  answer ;  let  the  Alsace-Lor- 
raine of  1870  answer ;  let  the  Belgium  of  to-day 
answer.  More  than  two  hundred  years  later 
Cavour,  struggling  for  Italian  unity,  cried  out 
for  a  free  church  in  a  free  state.  Nearly  three 
hundred  years  later  a  French  republic  broke 
with  a  great  church  long  established  in  France. 
In  both  cases  the  doctrine  of  the  Mayflower 
Pilgrims  found  new  applications ;  for  the  Pil- 
grims brought  with  them  to  Plymouth  the  con- 
ception not  only  of  a  free  state,  but  also  of 
a  free  church.  Pastor  Robinson's  church  was 
called  Separatist,  and  later  Independent ;  and 
later  still  its  polity  was  known  as  Congregational. 
It  had  no  bishop  and  no  synod.  There  was  no 
ecclesiasticism  and  no  mysticism  about  it.  The 


168  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

congregation  elected  their  pastor  and  elders, 
their  church  welcoming  to  the  communion 
service  members  of  the  Anglican,  Genevan, 
Lutheran,  Dutch,  and  Presbyterian  churches. 
From  these  Separatists,  transplanted  to  the  Mas- 
sachusetts wilderness,  sprang,  therefore,  a  gov- 
ernment founded  on  civil  and  religious  liberty, 
and  a  complete  toleration  of  all  religions  by  the 
state.  John  Robinson's  doctrine,  that  God  had 
never  yet  revealed  his  whole  will,  and  that  more 
truth  and  light  were  yet  to  break  forth,  is  now 
the  doctrine  of  all  liberals  the  world  over.  The 
advance  of  natural  science  within  the  last  one 
hundred  and  fifty  years  has  made  this  doctrine 
of  expectation  familiar  to  all  thinking  people; 
but  the  Pilgrims  accepted  and  practised  it  as  a 
religious  doctrine,  and  gave  it  practical  expres- 
sion in  the  church  and  the  state  they  organized 
in  1620. 

After  the  compact  or  covenant  had  been 
signed  in  the  cabin  of  the  Mayflower  by  the 
forty-one  adult  males,  these  same  men  proceeded 
to  elect  a  governor  for  the  commonwealth  thus 
constituted ;  and  every  year  thereafter  they 
elected  their  chief  executive  to  serve  for  the 
term  of  one  year.  This  short-term,  elected  ex- 
ecutive was  maintained  in  the  old  colony  until 


A  FREE  CHURCH  IN  A  FREE  STATE  IN  1620     169 

1692,  when,  to  their  great  regret,  the  descend- 
ants of  the  Forefathers  found  themselves  ab- 
sorbed into  the  Royal  Province  of  Massachu- 
setts, which  extended  from  Nova  Scotia  to  the 
Vineyard  Archipelago,  and  was  provided  with 
a  royal  governor.  To  liberals  the  world  over 
this  achievement  of  the  Pilgrims  seems  more 
significant  to-day  than  it  ever  has  before  ;  be- 
cause a  prime  cause  of  the  fearful  catastrophe 
which  has  lately  befallen  Europe  is  the  retention 
there  of  hereditary,  permanent  executives  over 
whom  the  mass  of  the  people  have  no  control 
whatever,  and  who  can  make  war  without  con- 
sulting anybody  but  a  cabinet  they  have  them- 
selves selected,  or  a  few  other  hereditary  ex- 
ecutives. In  1620  this  small  band  of  English 
Non-Conformists  gave  the  first  example  in  the 
world  of  a  free  and  progressive  church  in  a  state 
created  and  controlled  by  free  men,  both  church 
and  state  being  led  and  served  by  elected  offi- 
cers. 

The  Pilgrims  were  plain,  laboring  people, 
who  all  worked  with  their  hands,  and  expected 
to  get  their  living  as  "  Planters  "  on  the  wild 
shores  of  northern  Virginia.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  they  made  their  living  by  farming,  fish- 
ing, hunting,  and  practising  the  elementary 


170  THE  ROAD  TOWAED  PEACE 

trades  of  a  new  settlement.  A  few  of  them 
were  good  writers  and  intelligent  business  men  ; 
but  many  of  their  leaders  and  officers  found  it 
more  convenient  to  make  their  mark  than  to 
write  their  signature  on  deeds  or  records ;  and 
it  is  probable  that  few  of  the  women  could 
write,  though  more  could  read.  They  could  all, 
however,  take  in  and  appreciate  the  exhorta- 
tions of  their  ministers  orally  communicated. 
Such  being  their  quality,  it  is  remarkable  that 
the  Articles  of  Agreement  under  which  the  Pil- 
grims set  sail  from  England  contained  sound 
principles  affecting  the  relations  of  capital  to 
labor  which  have  not  secured  wide  adoption  in 
the  industrial  and  commercial  world  of  to-day. 
The  Pilgrims  sailed  from  England  under 
articles  of  agreement  which  were  to  govern  the 
proceedings  of  a  stock  company,  —  the  shares 
of  which  were  held  by  two  classes  of  persons, 
one  called  "Adventurers,"  and  the  other 
"Planters."  The  adventurers  were  men  who 
merely  put  capital  into  the  outfitting  of  the 
expedition.  The  planters  were  persons  who 
crossed  the  ocean,  and  were  to  bear  the  hard- 
ships and  the  labors  of  the  expedition.  The 
planters  might,  or  might  not,  put  capital  into 
the  venture.  Some  did  acquire  shares  in  the 


A  FREE  CHURCH  IN  A  FREE  STATE  IN  1620     171 

stock  company  as  adventurers  by  putting  in 
money  or  money's  worth  in  goods  ;  but  the 
greater  part  did  not  hold  shares,  except  as 
planters.  Every  planter  being  aged  sixteen 
years  and  upwards,  received  on  going  a  single 
share  in  the  stock  company,  rated  at  ten  pounds. 
A  planter  who  carried  with  him  his  wife  and 
children  or  servants  was  allowed  for  every  per- 
son sixteen  years  old  and  upward  a  share  in 
the  company  and  a  share  for  every  two  chil- 
dren between  ten  and  sixteen  years  old.  Every 
child  under  ten  who  went  in  the  ship  was  to 
receive  in  the  ultimate  division  of  the  holdings 
of  the  company  fifty  acres  of  unmanured  land. 
All  the  planters  were  to  be  fed  and  clothed  out 
of  the  common  stock  and  goods  of  the  com- 
pany. Each  planter  was  to  work  four  days  in 
each  week  for  the  company,  and  two  for  him- 
self and  family.  At  the  end  of  seven  years, 
each  planter,  head  of  a  family  or  a  group, 
should  own  the  house  and  garden  land  occupied 
by  him  and  his.  The  undertaking  entered  into 
on  these  terms  was  a  strong  case  of  cooperation 
and  cooperative  management  for  a  short  term 
of  years,  with  acquisition  by  every  head  of  a 
family  at  the  end  of  that  short  term  of  a  house 
and  garden. 


172  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

The  first  assignments  of  land  at  Plymouth 
were  made  by  lot,  had  equal  areas,  and  were 
supposed  to  be  of  very  nearly  equal  value.  The 
family,  rather  than  the  individual,  was  the  social 
unit  used  in  the  allotment.  When  fifteen  cattle 
arrived  in  1627  for  distribution  among  the  col- 
onists, with  some  she  goats  and  swine,  these 
animals  were  distributed  among  twelve  groups 
into  which  the  one  hundred  and  fifty-six  planter 
owners  of  the  company's  stock  were  divided  for 
the  purpose,  each  animal  to  be  kept  for  ten 
years,  and  then  returned  to  the  public  store 
with  one  half  its  increase.  Another  example  of 
cooperative  management  intended  to  encourage 
individual  responsibility  and  effort ! 

The  Pilgrims  thoroughly  understood  that 
capital  and  labor  must  cooperate,  in  order  to 
successful  production ;  and  they  acted  consist- 
ently on  this  understanding.  Being  fed  and 
clothed  at  the  expense  of  the  company,  they 
were  willing  to  work  for  the  company  two  thirds 
of  their  time  without  wages ;  but  they  obtained 
shares  in  the  company  without  payment  of  cash, 
in  consideration  of  the  risk  they  ran  in  putting 
their  lives  and  capacities  at  the  service  of  the 
company  in  a  dangerous  venture,  and  in  invest- 
ing two  thirds  of  their  labor  for  seven  years 


A  FEES  CHURCH  IN  A  FREE  STATE  IN  1620     173 

with  the  company.  Moreover,  in  return  for  the 
assumption  of  these  risks  and  for  their  labor, 
each  family  would  obtain  possession  at  the  end 
of  seven  years  of  a  house  and  land,  on  which, 
however,  they  would  probably  have  spent  the 
other  third  of  their  working  time.  This  eco- 
nomic arrangement  could  not  have  been  brought 
about,  except  in  a  homogeneous  community 
which  was  thoroughly  democratic  in  principle 
and  practice.  Is  there  any  industrial  organiza- 
tion to-day  in  which  democracy  and  the  recogni- 
tion of  the  laborers'  contribution  in  risk  and 
work  to  the  cost  of  production  are  better  recog- 
nized, or  more  wisely  dealt  with,  than  in  the 
Pilgrims'  Stock  Company?  Ultimately  the 
planters  bought  out  the  adventurers,  and  owned 
the  whole  stock.  What  prophet*  the  Pilgrims 
were  of  far-away  reforms  ! 

The  Pilgrims  recognized  that  they  had  lead- 
ers; and  the  common  people  selected  these 
leaders  with  great  judgment,  and  whenever 
they  found  a  good  one  were  constant  toward 
him ;  but  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  com- 
munity were  extremely  simple,  and  all  men 
were  equal  before  the  law.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  Pilgrims  never  tried  to  prevent  the  diversi- 
ties in  regard  to  possessions  which  inevitably 


174  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

arise  in  any  free  community.  Only  despotism, 
autocratic  or  socialistic,  can  prevent  the  diver- 
sity in  men's  capacity  from  producing  diversity 
in  possessions.  Nothing  of  the  feudal  system 
came  across  the  ocean  with  the  Pilgrims,  and 
nothing  of  ecclesiastical  control. 

For  the  protection  of  the  colony,  every  able- 
bodied  citizen  was  expected  to  bear  arms.  Every 
youth  learnt  the  use  of  the  simple  weapons 
which  were  then  available  for  the  chase  and  for 
war.  The  Pilgrims  started  the  New  England 
muster  and  militia  system,  prototype  of  the  ad- 
mirable military  organization  of  republican 
Switzerland  which  is  now  suggesting  a  way 
out  of  European  militarism. 

In  1643,  after  a  six  years'  discussion  begun 
by  Plymouth,  a  confederation  called  "The 
United  Colonies  of  New  England,"  was  formed 
by  the  four  colonies  of  Massachusetts,  Plym- 
outh, Connecticut,  and  New  Haven  to  make 
common  cause  in  offensive  and  defensive  war. 
Each  confederate  was  to  choose  annually  two 
church-members  as  its  commissioners  in  the 
league,  each  colony  having  the  same  number 
of  representatives  without  regard  to  popula- 
tion. No  single  colony  was  to  make  war.  The 
quota  which  each  colony  contributed  to  the 


A  FREE  CHURCH  IN  A  FREE  STATE  IN  1620     175 

intercolonial  force  was  proportionate  to  the  num- 
ber of  its  able-bodied  males  between  the  ages  of 
sixteen  and  sixty.  This  confederation  was  loose 
and  ill-defined  ;  but  it  was  maintained  for  forty 
years,  and  supplied  ideas  for  several  later  feder- 
ations on  the  American  continent.  Obviously, 
it  might  suggest  some  clauses  in  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  now  much-desired  United  States  of 
Europe,  such  as  the  equal  representation  of  the 
several  states  in  the  central  council,  the  quota 
of  each  state  in  the  international  force  propor- 
tionate to  its  military  population,  and  the  rule 
that  no  single  state  shall  make  war.  In  this 
direction  Europe  has  never  got  so  far  as  the  Pil- 
grims had  in  1643. 

Down  in  the  spring  of  1623,  all  labor  in  fish- 
ing and  farming  had  been  in  common ;  and  the 
product  in  food  had  been  placed  in  the  public 
store  to  be  shared  equally  by  all  the  workers, 
whether  they  worked  zealously  and  effectively, 
or  languidly  and  shiftlessly;  otherwise,  there 
had  been  no  community  of  goods.  In  the  spring 
of  that  year  the  supply  of  food  in  the  public 
storehouse  was  very  low ;  and  there  was  serious 
apprehension  of  a  famine  before  a  new  crop 
could  be  gathered.  The  straits  were  all  the  more 
serious  because  the  colony  possessed  at  the  time 


176  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

no  domestic  animals  that  yielded  milk  or  meat. 
No  cattle  were  imported  until  1624.  The  gov- 
ernor under  such  conditions  could  not  keep  the 
people  hard  at  work ;  and  it  distinctly  appeared 
that  the  motive  of  common  benefit  was  inferior 
in  stimulating  force  to  the  motive  of  personal, 
individual  or  family  possession.  The  elders  of 
the  Pilgrims  were  practical  men,  who  saw  that 
a  new  method  of  dealing  with  the  labor  ques- 
tion was  urgently  needed,  particularly  in  view 
of  the  approaching  scarcity  of  food.  They, 
therefore,  assigned  a  lot  for  one  year  to  each 
household,  at  the  rate  of  an  acre  for  every  mem- 
ber. The  lots  were  to  be  cultivated  at  the  pleas- 
ure of  the  holders,  who  were  to  own  the  crops, 
after  giving  a  small  portion  to  the  public  treas- 
ury. This  introduction  of  the  principle  of  pri- 
vate ownership,  in  addition  to  the  well-distri- 
buted ownership  of  shares  in  the  stock  of  the 
company,  produced  an  important  effect,  —  a 
much  larger  area  was  planted,  and  men,  women, 
and  children  worked  with  a  new  ardor  in  the 
cultivation  of  their  own  lots.  It  took  the  leaders 
of  the  Pilgrims  only  two  years  and  a  half  to 
learn  that  the  institution  of  private  property 
appeals  to  a  good  side  of  human  nature,  and 
that  there  is  no  safe  substitute  for  it.  To  be 


A  FREE  CHURCH  IN  A  FREE  STATE  IN  1620     177 

sure,  they  learned  this  lesson  under  conditions 
of  severe  anxiety  and  stress.  To-day  the  civil- 
ized world  has  to  listen  to  many  socialistic 
prophets  and  disputants  who  close  their  eyes  to 
the  patent  fact  that  the  mass  of  mankind  need 
the  stimulus  of  private  property  in  order  to 
maintain  a  fair  degree  of  industry  and  frugality. 
Two  years  before  the  Pilgrims  left  Leyden, 
their  pastor,  John  Robinson,  and  their  elder, 
William  Brewster,  united  in  a  letter  which 
ended  with  five  reasons  for  the  proposed  emi- 
gration. The  fourth  reason  is  as  follows :  "We 
are  knit  together  in  a  body  in  a  most  strict  and 
sacred  bond  and  covenant  of  the  Lord,  of  the 
violation  whereof  we  make  great  conscience, 
and  by  virtue  whereof  we  do  hold  ourselves 
straightly  tied  to  all  care  of  such  other's  good, 
and  of  the  whole  by  every  one,  and  so  mutu- 
ally." It  would  be  hard  to  find  a  better  state- 
ment than  that  of  the  fundamental  conception 
of  modern  non-militant  socialism — each  for  all 
and  all  for  each  ;  but  the  Pilgrims  were  not  fore- 
runners of  socialism ;  because  they  fully  appre- 
ciated the  advantages  of  the  institution  of  pri- 
vate property  not  only  for  stimulating  industry 
and  frugality,  but  also  for  strengthening  the 
family  bond.  Their  unit  of  social  organization 


178  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

was  the  family;  and  they  had  no  thought  of 
permitting  the  lazy  and  improvident  to  plant 
themselves  on  the  backs  of  the  energetic  and 
prudent  members  of  the  community.  The  philo- 
sophic socialism  of  the  nineteenth  century  would 
tend  to  weaken  the  family  bond,  and  would  sub- 
ject the  individual  human  being  to  a  harsh  col- 
lective despotism,  against  which  the  Pilgrim 
spirit  would  have  revolted. 

No  sketch  of  the  Pilgrims  would  be  adequate 
which  did  not  mention  the  heroism  of  their 
women.  The  women  that  came  to  America  from 
that  Separatist  flock  in  Leyden  washed,  cooked, 
made  clothing,  bore,  nursed,  and  tended  chil- 
dren, and  watched  anxiously  for  the  return  of 
the  men,  who  often  had  to  go  to  distant  fields 
or  woods,  or  on  remote  fishing  expeditions,  or 
on  exploring  and  hunting  parties.  What  the 
risks  were  that  the  women  took  may  be  illus- 
trated by  the  single  fact,  that  out  of  the  eigh- 
teen women  who  were  on  board  the  Mayflower, 
fourteen  were  buried  in  unmarked  graves  within 
six  months  of  the  day  that  the  Mayflower  an- 
chored within  the  hook  of  Cape  Cod.  Nothing 
daunted,  other  women  of  the  Pilgrim  mind 
came  over  from  Holland  and  England  to  take 
the  places  of  the  dead,  and  maintain  the  stag- 


A  FREE  CHURCH  IN  A  FREE  STATE  IN  1620     179 

gering  colony;  and  ever  since  just  such  women 
have  accompanied  the  pioneering  line  of  ad- 
venturous free  men,  as  it  has  moved  slowly 
across  the  continent  for  nearly  three  centuries. 
The  Pilgrim  women  deserve,  and  please  God 
shall  have,  the  same  reward  which  Jesus  prom- 
ised to  the  woman  who  broke  over  his  body  the 
alabaster  box  of  precious  ointment:  "whereso- 
ever this  Gospel  shall  be  preached  in  the  whole 
world,  there  shall  also  this  that  this  woman 
hath  done  be  told  for  a  memorial  of  her."  The 
Pilgrim  ideal  of  woman  was  the  courageous, 
capable,  strong,  devoted  type,  sacrificing  self 
for  love  and  duty,  and  rejoicing  in  her  work. 
Is  there  any  better  type  to-day?  Are  there  not 
some  inferior  types  in  public  evidence? 

Within  the  last  few  months,  I  have  been  often 
asked  in  letters  —  signed  or  unsigned  —  what 
America  owes  to  England.  If  I  had  answered 
these  questions,  one  element  in  my  reply  would 
have  been :  America  owes  to  England  the  ideals 
of  the  Pilgrims — a  debt  never  to  be  forgotten. 
Another  element  in  my  reply  would  have  been : 
America  owes  to  England  John  Milton's  preach- 
ing of  civil  and  religious  liberty — a  preaching 
contemporaneous  with  many  of  the  experiences 
of  that  group  of  brave  men  and  women  who 


180  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

risked  their  all  in  the  little  colony  on  the  deso- 
late coast  of  Massachusetts,  not  in  search  of 
gold  or  trade,  but  only  hoping  that  they  and 
their  children  might  be  free.  The  American 
people  believes,  as  the  Pilgrim  Church  believed, 
that  more  truth  and  light  are  constantly  to  be 
made  known  to  man,  and  that  it  is  truth  that 
makes  men  free.  More  truth  —  scientific,  philo- 
sophical, or  religious  —  more  freedom  for  man- 
kind. If  this  faith  can  now  be  implanted  in  the 
international  mind  of  Europe  as  the  moral  issue 
of  the  present  cataclysm,  the  huge  sorrow  and 
desolation  of  that  Continent  may  yet  be  turned 
into  gladness  and  hope. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

NATIONAL   EFFICIENCY    BEST    DEVELOPED 
UNDER   FREE    GOVERNMENTS1 

THE  causes  of  this  fearful  war  are  often  dis- 
cussed as  if  they  were  to  be  sought  in  the 
month  before  the  war  actually  broke  out.  We 
hear  men  talking  as  if  the  exchange  of  tele- 
grams and  notes  between  the  monarchs  just 
before  the  war  could  supply  an  intelligent 
understanding  of  the  causes  of  the  outbreak. 
We  hear  the  conversations  between  the  vari- 
ous chancelleries  of  Europe  in  July  spoken 
of  as  if  the  real  cause  of  the  war  was  to  be 
found  in  them,  or,  indeed,  in  the  sequence  of 
the  orders  given  for  mobilization.  I  have  even 
read  articles  in  which  the  cause  of  the  war  was 
found  in  the  assassination  of  the  heir  to  the 
Austro-Hungarian  throne. 

Now,  to  my  mind,  all  these  so-called  causes 
are  merely  superficial  events,  which  might  more 
properly  be  called  the  occasions  than  the  causes 
of  the  war.  To  my  thinking,  the  causes  of  the 

1  An  address  before  the  Harvard  Club  of  Boston,  Jan- 
uary 15,  1915,  revised  arid  enlarged. 


182  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

war  are  very  deep-seated,  and  have  to  be  traced 
back  through  long  years,  and,  indeed,  through 
generations  of  men.  They  are  states  of  mind 
rather  than  events.  They  have  their  sources  in 
racial  feelings  and  to  some  extent  in  religious 
differences ;  in  the  ambitions  of  princes ;  in 
long-cherished  aspirations  and  ambitions  of 
peoples ;  in  continuously  developed  policies  of 
governments ;  and  deeper  still  in  great  popular 
emotions.  If  such  are  the  real  causes  of  the 
war,  we  need  to  consider  carefully  the  historical 
development  of  these  aspirations,  ambitions, 
and  emotions,  which  have  had  a  national  scope. 
This  war  has  brought  out  very  strongly  the 
sentiment  of  nationality,  —  a  sentiment  the 
origins  and  conditions  of  which  are  peculiarly 
difficult  to  appreciate  and  understand.  Many 
people  think  that  a  common  language  is  neces- 
sary to  the  development  of  the  sentiment  of 
nationality ;  but  how  many  instances  there  are 
in  the  world  in  which  many  languages  are  used 
in  the  territory  ascribed  to  a  nation.  At  this 
moment  there  is  no  country  which  nourishes  a 
stronger  spirit  of  nationality  than  little  Swit- 
zerland, the  model  republic  of  the  world.  Now, 
in  that  small  territory  four  languages  are  used, 
each  by  thousands  of  people;  and  in  the  legis- 


EFFICIENCY  AND  FREE  GOVERNMENTS     183 

lative  assembly,  if  a  member  does  not  speak  at 
the  rostrum  in  French  or  German,  an  inter- 
preter is  placed  beside  the  orator  who  keeps 
along  with  him;  so  that  the  two  voices  are 
going  on  at  the  same  time.  Belgium  is  a  strong 
nationality  as  regards  sentiment,  but  at  least 
two  quite  different  languages  are  spoken  in 
that  country.  In  the  vast  territory  of  China 
many  dialects  exist,  so  different  that  the  people 
of  one  section  may  not  understand  the  people 
of  any  other.  One  almost  wishes  that  a  com- 
mon language  could  be  spoken  of  as  a  source 
or  necessary  condition  of  a  strong  sentiment  of 
nationality;  but  there  are  too  many  cases  in 
the  world  where  a  strong  national  feeling  pre- 
vails, and  yet  there  is  no  common  language. 
We  Americans  have  been  in  the  habit  of  think- 
ing that  the  use  of  the  English  language  all 
over  our  immense  territory  has  contributed  to 
our  sense  of  national  unity  and  well-being ; 
and,  indeed,  it  probably  has.  Nevertheless,  that 
test  of  nationality  will  not  hold  in  the  modern 
world. 

The  national  sentiment  in  Great  Britain, 
France,  Italy,  Germany,  and  Russia  is  to-day 
intense,  and,  so  far  as  we  can  see,  equally  in- 
tense in  all  these  countries.  Apparently  little 


184  THE  BOAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

distinction  can  be  drawn  between  national  sen- 
timent in  an  immobile  empire  like  Russia,  under 
an  autocratic  government  like  that  of  Germany, 
in  a  sober,  experienced,  constitutional  monarchy 
like  that  of  England,  or  in  a  new  republic  like 
France.  We  do  not  find  the  cause  or  source  of 
this  intense  popular  sentiment  in  the  form  of 
government  to  which  the  people  are  accustomed. 
And  yet  one  cannot  imagine  any  satisfactory 
settlement  of  this  terrible  world-conflict,  which 
will  not  take  more  account  than  any  settlement 
of  a  European  war  has  ever  done  before,  of 
this  emotion  or  sentiment  of  nationality. 

The  experience  of  Europe  during  the  last 
sixty  years  has  been  peculiar  in  one  respect,  — 
it  has  been  a  period  in  which  peoples  who  pos- 
sess a  common  language,  or  a  common  senti- 
ment of  nationality,  and  are  derived  from  sim- 
ilar racial  stocks,  have  succeeded  in  getting 
together  in  larger  entities.  That  has  been 
emphatically  the  case  with  Germany  and  with 
Italy ;  and  until  the  Second  Balkan  War  the 
well-wishers  for  Europe  hoped  that  it  was 
going  to  be  the  case  in  the  whole  Balkan  region ; 
but  the  second  war  defeated  all  such  hopes. 
What  great  changes  have  been  wrought  in 
Europe  since  the  close  of  the  Thirty  Years' 


EFFICIENCY  AND  FREE  GOVERNMENTS     185 

War !  That  war  ended  in  the  recognition  and 
establishment  of  a  large  number  of  separate, 
independent,  small  states  and  principalities. 
When  this  present  war  ends,  we  may  reason- 
ably expect  that  it  will  result  in  the  develop- 
ment of  some  new  large  states  in  Europe,  fed- 
erations, perhaps,  and  some  new  small  states, 
but  also  in  a  greater  security  for  the  smaller 
states  over  against  the  larger. 

Several  European  nations  have  been  infected 
at  various  times — England  first,  since  the  de- 
cline of  Spain  —  with  a  false  and  dangerous 
conception  of  the  state  as  an  imperial  being, 
independent  of  ordinary  ethical  considerations, 
entitled  to  the  unquestioning  obedience  and  ser- 
vice of  its  subjects,  aiming  at  the  development 
of  strong  types  of  men  and  women  without 
much  regard  to  the  freedom  or  happiness  of 
the  individual,  and  claiming  dominion  over 
neighbors,  oceans,  or  remote  possessions  in 
other  parts  of  the  world.  British  imperialism 
had  sound  commercial  and  industrial  objects, 
and  was  qualified  by  much  domestic  freedom, 
and  the  policy  of  free  trade.  Being  an  island, 
Great  Britain  tried  to  rule  the  seas,  in  order 
that  her  indispensable  supplies  of  food  and 
raw  materials  might  never  be  cut  off.  Her  Con- 


186  THE  ROAD   TOWARD  PEACE 

tinental  imitators  have  not  had  her  domestic 
freedom,  her  affiliated  free  commonwealths,  her 
free  trade,  or  her  strong  reason  for  possessing 
mastery  of  the  oceans ;  but  they  have  had,  and 
some  of  them  still  have,  the  imperialistic  fever 
in  its  hottest  form. 

If,  then,  we  must  look  for  the  causes  of  this 
unprecedented  convulsion  in  these  deep-rooted 
popular  aspirations  and  ambitions,  what  shall  we 
say  about  the  slow  but  steady  growth  of  these 
sentiments  in  Germany?  Some  people  ascribe 
this  widespread  war  to  the  German  Emperor 
or  Cabinet,  or  to  some  particular  German 
teachers  and  authors,  or  to  the  growth  of  a 
strong,  united  military  caste  in  Germany.  All 
those  influences  doubtless  contributed  in  some 
measure  to  the  outbreak ;  but  the  real  cause  of 
the  successive  military  aggressions  on  the  part 
of  Germany  since  1864  lies  in  the  gradual  prev- 
alence throughout  that  nation,  and  particularly 
throughout  its  educated  classes,  of  an  exagger- 
ated estimate  of  the  bodily  and  spiritual  merits 
of  the  German  people,  and  of  a  belief  that  the 
national  greatness  and  the  progress  of  character- 
istic German  civilization  were  to  be  attained 
through  the  development  of  the  most  tremen- 


EFFICIENCY  AND  FREE  GOVERNMENTS     187 

dous  national  Force  that  could  possibly  be  con- 
trived and  brought  into  being,  and  through  the 
gratification  of  the  intense  German  desire  for 
domination  in  Europe,  and  later  in  the  world. 

The  Government  of  Germany  is  the  most 
autocratic  in  Europe.  It  has  always  been  so  in 
Prussia ;  and  since  German  unification  in  1871 
that  description  applies  to  the  whole  of  Ger- 
many. One  of  the  most  extraordinary  phenom- 
ena in  connection  with  this  ferocious  war  is  the 
unanimous  opinion  among  German  scholars,  his- 
torians, statesmen,  and  diplomats,  and  indeed 
throughout  the  educated  classes,  that  —  as  was 
lately  said  to  me  in  a  letter  from  a  German 
friend  —  "  We  Germans  are  just  as  free  as  you 
Americans  are."  They  really  believe  that.  This 
unanimous  opinion  is  a  complete  demonstration 
of  the  effect  of  the  autocratic  Government  which 
has  long  existed  in  Germany  on  the  spirit  and 
temper  of  the  German  people  as  a  whole.  They 
do  not  know  what  political  and  social  liberty  is. 
They  have  no  conception  of  such  liberty  as 
we  enjoy.  They  know  nothing  at  all  about  the 
liberty  England  has  won  through  Parliamen- 
tary government,  through  party  government. 
Their  complete  ignorance  on  that  subject  is  the 
explanation  of  the  fatal  mistake  the  German 


188  THE  EOAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

Government  made  in  going  to  war  last  summer 
before  they  knew  what  England  was  going  to 
do,  or  could  do.  The  German  Government 
thoroughly  believed  that  in  the  existing  condi- 
tion of  party  government  in  England,  with  the 
Ulster  disturbance  unsettled,  and  the  trades- 
union  difficulties  on  hand,  England  not  only 
would  not  go  to  war,  but  could  not.  One  could 
not  have  a  better  illustration  of  the  complete 
ignorance  of  the  German  people  as  to  what 
political  and  social  liberty  really  is.  The  Ger- 
man diplomats  misinformed  their  government 
about  the  state  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland, 
and  of  France,  in  spite  of  their  ample  system 
of  resident  informers  ;  because  neither  they  nor 
their  informers  understood  the  political  action 
of  a  free  people.  At  this  moment,  the  German 
Government  is  being  misinformed  in  like  man- 
ner about  the  state  of  American  public  opinion. 
To  the  German  mind  political  liberty  means 
public  incapacity  and  weakness — particularly 
in  war. 

In  the  earlier  steps  of  the  war,  Germany  met 
with  a  series  of  surprises;  because  the  German 
Government  and  the  military  caste  in  Germany 
did  not  understand  what  comparatively  free  peo- 
ples value,  what  their  ideals  are,  and  what  they 


EFFICIENCY  AND  FEES  GOVERNMENTS     189 

are  capable  of  undertaking  and  enduring  in  de- 
fense of  their  ideals.  For  instance,  the  German 
doctrine  about  the  justifiableness  of  violating  a 
contract  or  a  treaty  on  grounds  of  military  ne- 
cessity was  universally  accepted  in  Germany  as 
right.  Germans  do  not  know  how  free  peoples 
regard  the  sanctity  of  contract,  not  only  for 
business  purposes,  but  for  political  purposes,  to 
say  nothing  of  honorable  obligation.  Nothing 
could  be  franker  than  the  original  explanation 
which  the  German  Chancellor  gave  of  the 
breaking  of  the  treaties  concerning  the  neu- 
trality of  Belgium ;  but  his  frankness  is  evidence 
that  he  did  not  understand  in  the  least  the  free- 
man's idea  of  the  sanctity  of  contract  —  the 
foundation  of  all  public  law  and  usage  in  a  free 
country.  In  a  country  despotically  or  auto- 
cratically ruled,  there  is  no  such  condition  of 
public  opinion. 

More  and  more,  as  time  goes  on,  this  war 
develops  into  a  conflict  between  free  institu- 
tions and  autocratic  institutions.  Of  course, 
the  position  of  Russia  as  an  ally  of  France  and 
England  somewhat  shrouds  or  complicates  this 
fact;  because  the  Russian  people  is  by  inherit- 
ance and  in  some  respects  by  nature  a  people 
which  submits  to  despotic  government.  Her 


190  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

exceptional  position  as  an  ally  of  two  free 
countries  is  due  to  a  long-nourished  indigna- 
tion against  Austria-Hungary  and  Germany 
for  presenting  obstacles  year  after  year  and 
generation  after  generation  to  the  gratification 
of  Russian  ambition  for  aggrandizement  in  the 
Balkan  countries  and  the  Near  East.  That 
ambition  and  some  stirrings  toward  liberty  may 
have  put  Russia  in  its  exceptional  position  by 
the  side  of  two  free  countries. 

If,  now,  we  take  it  for  granted  that  the 
question  between  free  and  autocratic  institu- 
tions in  Europe,  the  question  of  more  public 
liberty,  the  question  of  civilization  developing 
under  the  forms  of  free  government  rather 
than  under  the  forms  of  autocratic  govern- 
ment, is  the  real  issue  this  war  is  to  decide,  it 
becomes  a  very  interesting  study  for  all  the 
freer  peoples  how  German  efficiency  is  going 
to  turn  out  in  competition  with  such  efficiency 
as  the  freer  nations  develop.  The  military  re- 
sult of  the  war  is  going  to  turn  on  the  com- 
parative efficiency  of  the  military  and  naval 
forces  of  the  opposing  parties,  and  on  the 
efficiency  with  which  the  economic  resources 
of  the  several  nations  are  used.  Numbers  are 


EFFICIENCY  AND  FEEE  GOVERNMENTS     191 

so  enormous  on  each  side  that  the  result  will 
not  be  determined  so  much  by  mere  numbers, 
as  by  the  efficiency  of  the  armed  forces  of  the 
combatants,  and  of  their  industrial  and  finan- 
cial forces. 

German  efficiency  has  been  an  object  of 
great  admiration,  not  only  in  this  country,  but 
in  England,  France,  and  Russia,  for  twenty- 
five  or  thirty  years.  We  have  all  admired  it  in 
the  recent  commercial  and  industrial  develop- 
ment of  Germany  —  not  less  remarkable  be- 
cause it  started  about  sixty  years  ago  from  a 
low  level.  We  have  admired  it,  too,  in  the 
efficiency  of  her  military  and  naval  develop- 
ment. It  is  an  extraordinary  phenomenon  in 
the  history  of  the  nineteenth  century  —  this 
wonderful  efficiency ;  but  German  efficiency  is 
of  a  peculiar  type.  It  is  an  efficiency  in  admin- 
istration —  in  business  administration,  in  muni- 
cipal government  strikingly,  and  in  all  the 
national  government  bureaus.  It  is  an  efficiency 
which  takes  hold  of  every  child  in  Germany  at 
birth,  and  follows  every  youth  and  every  man 
and  woman  through  life  until  death.  It  is  that 
very  efficiency  which  has  prevented  the  last 
two  generations  of  Germans  from  knowing 
anything  about  liberty.  It  is  in  the  highest 


192  THE  EOAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

degree  an  autocratic  efficiency  in  all  walks  o£ 
German  life,  including  education  and  the  rela- 
tions between  the  sexes.  The  whole  course  of 
elementary  and  secondary  education  for  every 
German  boy  or  girl  is  determined  by  the  Gov- 
ernment, and  there  is  no  election  by  the  pupil 
in  it,  no  choice  by  the  child,  except  in  its  later 
stages  the  choice  between  a  technical  school  or 
a  gymnasium;  and  even  that  choice  is  often 
made  not  by  the  child,  but  for  him. 

A  significant  illustration  of  the  German  re- 
gard for  strength  and  force,  and  contempt  for 
weakness  and  gentleness,  is  to  be  found  in  the 
low  estimate  they  place  on  the  social  and  intel- 
lectual influence  of  women.  A  German  woman 
at  her  best  is  a  successful  housewife,  and  dili- 
gent attendant  on  husband  and  children ;  she 
is  seldom  the  intellectual  and  spiritual  comrade 
of  her  husband  and  the  inspirer  of  her  grown- 
up children,  as  a  woman  is  in  the  freer  coun- 
tries of  Europe  and  in  America.  The  contrast 
between  the  status  of  the  German  woman  and 
that  of  the  American  woman  is  strong  indeed. 
The  German  woman  of  to-day  has  grown  up 
and  lived  in  an  atmosphere  of  compulsion  arid 
discipline  which  no  American  woman  has  had 
to  endure  for  two  centuries  past. 


EFFICIENCY  AND  FREE  GOVERNMENTS      193 

The  Germans  are  fond  of  mentioning  their 
"academic  freedom,"  the  freedom  of  their 
learned  men;  but  that  is  much  exaggerated  in 
German  descriptions  of  their  university  life. 
The  German  universities  are  chiefly  supported 
and  ruled  by  the  Government;  and  there  are  no 
free  endowed  institutions  to  compete  with  them. 
The  whole  world  is  deeply  indebted  in  unnum- 
bered ways  to  the  German  universities  of  the 
last  hundred  years;  but  for  any  vital  teaching 
of  civil  and  religious  liberty  one  must  go  back 
to  individual  German  teachers  and  preachers 
of  an  earlier  time.  The  entrance  to  every 
learned  and  scientific  profession  in  Germany, 
and  to  the  highly  trained  military  and  naval 
caste  is  strictly  guarded  and  controlled  by  the 
Government. 

German  efficiency,  however,  is  a  very  real 
and  formidable  thing  in  all  the  competitions  of 
the  civilized  world;  so  that  the  most  interest- 
ing question  to  be  studied  as  to  the  probable 
outcome  of  the  European  War  is  this  —  is  Ger- 
many with  its  autocracy  more  efficient  or  less 
efficient  than  France  and  England  with  their 
liberties?  The  German  way  of  procuring 
industrial  and  commercial  efficiency  is  to  make 
each  individual  man,  in  the  first  place,  a  man 


194  THE  ROAD   TOWARD  PEACE 

well  trained  for  the  exact  service  lie  is  to  ren- 
der, and  then  to  keep  him  under  a  severe  dis- 
cipline which  will  result  in  his  doing  every 
time  exactly  what  he  has  been  trained  to  do. 
He  may  also  be  induced  in  some  measure  to  a 
perfect  subordination  by  a  bonus,  prize,  or 
honorary  reward.  That  is  the  German  method 
of  efficiency  all  the  way  through  industrial  life 
—  giving  instruction  and  training  enough  to 
produce  the  amount  of  skill  needed  for  the 
daily  task,  and  then  enforcing  that  subjection 
of  the  worker  which  results  in  thorough  coor- 
dination and  cooperation  in  the  complex  pro- 
cess of  production.  The  efficiency  of  their  mili- 
tary system  is  obtained  in  like  manner  —  by 
thorough  training  which  leads  to  the  instinctive 
cooperation  of  the  individual  with  a  mass  of 
comrades,  and  to  an  absolute  obedience  unto 
death. 

Now,  what  have  the  freer  nations  to  say  about 
their  chance  in  industrial  and  military  com- 
petition with  the  German  autocratic  system  ? 
They  say  in  speech  and  action,  "  We  believe 
a  man  or  a  nation  will  develop  greater  mental 
capacity  and  moral  force  with  freedom  than 
without  it.  Our  philosophy  of  life  teaches  that 


EFFICIENCY  AND  FREE  GOVERNMENTS     195 

doctrine ;  our  history  illustrates  it ;  our  prac- 
tice and  experience  prove  it."  Seven  nations 
conspicuously  illustrate  to-day  the  worth  of  lib- 
erty in  national  development,  —  Great  Britain 
and  her  affiliated  Commonwealths,  France,  Italy, 
Belgium,  the  Netherlands,  Switzerland,  and  the 
United  States,  and,  in  addition,  the  Scandina- 
vian group  of  peoples.  Italy  struggled  long 
under  various  oppressors.  She  won  at  last  unity 
and  freedom  ;  because  she  brought  forth  such 
independent  spirits  as  Dante,  Leonardo  da 
Vinci,  Savonarola,  Galileo,  Michael  Angelo, 
Cavour,  and  Garibaldi.  The  Dutch  were  pio- 
neers in  the  long  fight  for  liberty.  Since 
Elizabeth's  adventurers  ran  about  the  oceans, 
Cromwell  marshalled  his  Independents,  and 
Milton  taught  civil  and  religious  liberty  and 
freedom  for  the  press,  English  political,  indus- 
trial, and  religious  life  has  been  instinct  with 
liberty.  The  French  political  philosophers  of 
the  eighteenth  century  set  forth  eloquently  the 
rights  of  Man ;  and  the  French  Revolution 
strove  boldly,  though  ignorantly,  to  win  those 
rights,  and,  in  spite  of  its  violences  and  crudi- 
ties, spread  through  the  world  the  potent  con- 
ceptions of  liberty,  equality,  and  fraternity. 
The  mutual  jealousy  of  their  neighbors  has 


196  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

permitted  Belgium  and  Switzerland  to  prosper 
in  comparative  freedom.  The  Pilgrim  Fathers 
planted  on  American  soil  the  seeds  of  the  best 
English  and  Dutch  liberties ;  and  from  those 
seeds  there  came,  in  three  centuries,  a  solid 
growth  of  liberty  under  law,  —  the  widest  lib- 
erty, political,  industrial,  and  social  that  the 
world  has  ever  known,  conceived  by  free  spirits, 
embodied  in  legislation,  and  cherished  in  the 
hearts  of  a  multitudinous  people.  The  Scandi- 
navian peoples  have  suffered  much  from  more 
powerful  neighbors,  but  have  never  lost  the  ad- 
venturous spirit  of  the  Norsemen,  or  failed  to 
exercise  that  right  of  private  judgment  -which 
was  the  best  teaching  of  the  Protestant  Refor- 
mation, or  ceased  to  manifest  the  sturdy,  inde- 
pendent spirit  of  their  race.  The  Scandinavian 
emigrants  to  America  make  admirable  citizens 
of  the  American  Republic  without  any  change 
of  disposition  or  character. 

The  efficiency  of  all  these  nations  is  based 
on  a  high  degree  of  personal  initiative  and  of 
political  and  industrial  freedom,  —  not  on  the 
subjection  or  implicit  obedience  of  the  individ- 
ual, but  on  the  energy  and  good-will  in  work 
which  result  from  individual  freedom,  ambition, 
and  initiative. 


EFFICIENCY  AND  FREE  GOVERNMENTS     197 

If  this  doctrine  is  correct,  the  remarkable  in- 
crease of  industrial  and  commercial  efficiency 
during  the  past  one  hundred  and  fifty  years 
should  have  proceeded  from  the  freer  nations, 
and  not  from  the  nations  governed  autocratic- 
ally. It  is  an  interesting  inquiry,  therefore, 
whether  this  wonderfully  increased  efficiency 
has  proceeded  from  Russia,  Germany,  Austria, 
and  Turkey,  or  from  England,  France,  Italy, 
Holland,  Scandinavia,  and  the  United  States. 
A  brief  review  of  the  sources  of  the  important 
discoveries  and  inventions,  which  have  made 
the  industries  of  the  civilized  world  vastly  more 
effective  since  1830  than  they  ever  were  be- 
fore, will  convince  any  impartial  person  that 
the  means  of  improvement  have  come  from  the 
free  countries,  and  not  from  the  countries  des- 
potically governed.  Going  back  to  the  latter 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  we  find  that 
propulsion  by  steam  on  land  and  water  was 
first  made  commercially  successful  by  English- 
men and  Americans,  and  that  English  and 
French  chemists  made  the  fundamental  discov- 
eries in  chemical  theory.  In  the  early  part  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  the  development  of  the 
factory  system  with  steam-driven  machinery  was 
an  English  achievement,  and  later  an  American. 


198  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

Coming  on  in  the  nineteenth  century,  it  was 
Americans  who  developed  the  telegraph  and 
telephone  as  industrial  implements,  and  thereby 
changed  in  large  measure  the  habits  of  indus- 
trial, commercial,  and  financial  life,  and  in  many 
respects  of  domestic  and  family  life  also.  It  was 
an  Italian  who  invented  and  introduced  in  prac- 
tice wireless  telegraphy, — a  delightful  instance 
of  the  transmission  of  a  genius  for  physics 
in  the  same  nation  through  centuries.  It  was 
Americans  who  invented  and  made  commer- 
cially practical  electric  lighting  and  the  wide 
diffusion  of  mechanical  power  by  electricity. 
The  explosive  engine  was  developed  as  an  in- 
dustrial agent  in  France ;  and  the  gasolene 
motor  and  the  automobile  have  been  French, 
English,  and  American  developments.  The 
aeroplane  heavier  than  air  was  invented  by  Pro- 
fessor Langley,  when  Secretary  of  the  Smith- 
sonian Institution,  and  was  developed  for  prac- 
tical use  by  two  other  Americans— the  brothers 
Wright.  The  cotton-gin,  on  which  the  whole 
cotton  textile  industry  is  founded,  was  the  in- 
vention of  an  American,  as  were  also  the  sew- 
ing-machine, the  typewriter,  and  all  sorts  of 
shoe  machinery.  So  was  the  job  printing-press 
with  the  type  held,  not  on  a  horizontal  plane, 


EFFICIENCY  AND  FREE  GOVERNMENTS     199 

but  at  any  convenient  angle  with  the  paper  to 
be  printed  —  an  invention  out  of  which  came 
the  rotary  press,  which  is  to-day  an  indispensa- 
ble instrument  for  the  quick  and  wide  circula- 
tion of  news.  It  was  America  that  built  the 
first  monitor  and  the  first  submarine ;  and  it 
was  England  that  built  the  first  dreadnought. 
Turning  to  a  totally  different  field  of  discovery, 
anaesthesia  was  an  American  invention ;  and  its 
wide  usefulness  was  first  demonstrated  in  an 
American  hospital.  Asepsis,  a  discovery  of  equal 
value,  was  introduced  by  Lister,  a  British  sub- 
ject. Another  Englishman  invented  and  brought 
into  use  inoculation  against  typhoid  fever.  It 
was  American  surgeons  and  members  of  the 
Army  Medical  Corps,  temporarily  serving  in 
Cuba,  who  showed  the  world  how  to  prevent 
the  spread  of  yellow  fever.  The  immense  rub- 
ber industry  throughout  the  world  is  based  on 
the  invention  of  the  American  Goodyear,  who 
discovered  that  the  mixing  of  sulphur  with 
rubber  produced  an  elastic,  waterproof  mate- 
rial, capable  of  innumerable  useful  applications 
for  which  pure  rubber  was  not  fit.  The  great 
inventions  in  business  organization,  have,  of 
course,  proceeded  from  the  freer  countries,  and 
not  from  those  despotically  governed,  —  such, 


200  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

for  example,  as  the  organization  of  the  ocean 
liners  running  to  all  parts  of  the  world,  which 
is  in  the  main  an  English  invention.  The  or- 
ganization of  the  great  business  of  taking  pe- 
troleum out  of  the  earth,  piping  the  oil  over 
great  distances,  distilling  and  refining  it,  and 
distributing  it  in  tank-steamers,  tank-wagons, 
and  cans  all  over  the  earth,  was  an  American 
invention.  The  conception  of  the  huge  and 
complex  business  of  the  United  States  Steel 
Corporation,  and  the  putting  of  that  concep- 
tion into  practice,  is  another  American  inven- 
tion of  great  significance.  The  legal  invention 
of  the  corporation  with  limited  liability,  which 
has  led  to  an  immense  development  of  indus- 
trial and  commercial  productiveness,  is  English 
and  American  ;  and  this  management  of  indus- 
tries by  corporations  set  up  in  free  governments 
has,  in  turn,  become  a  great  reinforcement  of 
free  institutions. 

Obviously,  we  are  not  tracing  here  results  of 
blind  chance,  or  of  any  sort  of  coincidence  or 
accident.  We  are  recognizing  the  legitimate 
fruits  of  liberty.  It  is,  of  course,  true  that  Ger- 
many has  adopted,  adapted,  and  used  with  great 
skill  all  the  inventions  that  have  been  men- 
tioned, and  especially  in  organizing  and  using 


EFFICIENCY  AND  FREE  GOVERNMENTS     201 

her  army  and  navy.  She  has  also  used  them  all 
in  the  remarkable  development  of  her  industries 
during  the  past  fifty  years ;  but  she  invented 
and  brought  into  use  none  of  them ;  nor  did 
Russia,  Austria,  or  Turkey.  Most  of  the  inven- 
tions mentioned  are  indispensable  to  the  carry- 
ing on  of  the  present  war  in  Europe ;  and  many 
of  them  were  indispensable  to  the  preparations 
for  that  war,  carried  on  through  long  years  be- 
fore; but  all  of  them,  except  the  distinctly 
naval  inventions,  were  made  for  peaceful  uses 
—  to  promote  the  industrial  productiveness  and 
the  well-being  of  the  human  race. 

It  is  an  interesting  observation  that  universal 
education,  to  the  lower  grades  of  which  all  chil- 
dren are  compelled,  seems  to  have  but  slight 
effect  on  the  kind  of  national  efficiency  here 
considered.  For  one  hundred  years  past,  sys- 
tematic education  for  the  whole  people  has  been 
better  planned  and  carried  on  in  Germany  than 
it  has  been  in  any  of  the  freer  countries.  Large 
portions  of  the  Italian  population  have  had  no 
access  to  schools  until  lately.  England  had  noth- 
ing that  could  be  called  a  system  of  popular 
education  until  1870-71  ;  France  began  to  put 
universal  education  into  force  under  the  present 
Republic ;  and  to  this  day  millions  of  American 


202  THE  ROAD   TOWARD  PEACE 

children  have  scant  access  to  elementary  educa- 
tion, and  none  at  all  to  secondary.  The  plain 
fact  is  that  the  German  system  of  education 
and  government  has  not  had  freedom  enough 
in  it;  and  that  the  free  peoples,  among  whom 
there  exists  a  large  amount  of  social  and  indus- 
trial mobility,  are  the  peoples  that  have  pro- 
duced all  the  great  applied-science  inventions 
of  the  last  century  and  this.  The  facts  of  the 
case  are  unquestionable.  The  explanation  of 
them  is,  —  that  under  free  governments,  and 
in  communities  which  have  a  fair  amount  of 
social  mobility,  the  rare  men  are  surer  to  come 
forward  into  vigorous  action,  —  the  men  who 
are  competent,  not  only  to  invent  or  imagine 
the  thing  or  the  method  that  is  next  wanted, 
but  to  put  their  inventions  into  practical  form, 
and  make  them  useful  in  the  actual  industries 
of  their  nations  and  the  world.  Among  a  free 
people  the  remarkable  human  specimen  is  more 
likely  to  get  his  most  complete  and  powerful 
development  than  among  a  people  subject  to 
autocratic  government.  We  may  reasonably  be- 
lieve, therefore,  that  there  is  a  power  in  free 
institutions  which  leads  straight  to  efficiency  in 
the  industries  of  the  country,  and,  in  the  long 
run  and  after  many  experiments  and  failures, 


EFFICIENCY  AND  FREE  GOVERNMENTS     203 

to  the  efficient  management  of  its  governmental 
concerns,  and  that  this  efficiency  can  be  brought 
to  a  higher  condition  in  a  republic  or  a  con- 
stitutional monarchy  than  in  any  despotic  or 
autocratic  government. 

There  is  another  field  of  human  activity  — 
the  development  of  great  pioneers  in  thinking 
and  imagining  —  in  which  the  Germans  are  ac- 
customed to  claim  leadership ;  but  that  claim  ia 
•without  warrant.  In  the  first  place,  German  lit- 
erature and  philosophy  are,  like  German  indus- 
trial development,  comparatively  young.  That 
they  should  become  preeminent  so  soon  was  not 
to  be  expected.  In  the  next  place,  the  German 
race  has  not  yet  developed  leaders  of  thought 
in  literature,  philosophy,  poetry,  and  statesman- 
ship who  can  bear  comparison  with  the  supreme 
personages  in  England,  France,  and  Italy.  Ger- 
many has  produced  no  men  that  can  be  placed 
beside  Dante,  Michael  Angelo,  and  Cavour  in 
Italy  ;  Shakespeare,  Milton,  Newton,  Farraday, 
and  Darwin  in  England,  or  Pasteur  in  France. 
As  to  America,  it  seems  to  a  native  American 
profane  to  mention  Bismarck  and  the  German 
Emperor  in  the  same  breath  with  Washington 
and  Lincoln. 


204  THE  EOAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

The  present  war  in  Europe  is  going  to  put  to 
a  supreme  military  test  this  theory  concerning 
the  surest  sources  of  national  efficiency.  The 
war  ought  to  demonstrate  in  the  end  that  Ger- 
man efficiency  in  war  is  not  so  great  as  that  of 
England  and  France,  if  we  include  in  the  defini- 
tion of  military  efficiency  the  management  of 
the  supporting  industries,  and  skill  in  sum- 
moning and  applying  financial  resources,  as  well 
as  the  management  of  troops  in  actual  fight- 
ing. The  war  should  demonstrate  that  a  volun- 
teer soldier  is,  on  the  whole,  more  effective  than 
a  conscript;  because  he  has  more  personal  initi- 
ative, more  power  of  independent  action,  and 
more  sense  of  individual  responsibility.  The  first 
year  of  the  war  ought  to  prove  that  large  and 
effective  armies  can  be  put  into  the  field  after 
the  training  of  only  a  few  months,  if  the  volun- 
teer recruits  come  from  occupations  which  call 
for  intelligence  and  cooperative  good-will,  and 
are  inspired  by  ethical  motives  which  strongly 
appeal  to  them  as  individuals.  The  war  ought 
also  to  prove  that  the  freer  a  people  is,  and  the 
more  accustomed  to  the  exercise  of  a  self-con- 
trolled liberty  the  more  warmly  and  resolutely 
they  will  respond  to  calls  on  their  courage,  en- 
durance, and  love  of  country. 


EFFICIENCY  AND  FREE  GOVERNMENTS     205 

The  only  issue  of  the  war  that  can  possibly 
be  satisfactory  to  the  freer  nations  of  Europe, 
or  to  Americans,  is  an  issue  which  will  further 
in  Europe  the  cause  of  essential  freedom  —  the 
freedom  which  can  be  developed  under  any  con- 
stitutional form  of  government,  but  cannot  be 
developed  under  an  autocratic  form.  Therefore, 
we  look  forward  with  hope  to  a  diminution  in 
Europe  of  the  autocratic  forms  and  an  increase 
of  the  constitutional  forms,  as  well  as  to  better 
security  for  both  large  and  small  states  against 
sudden  invasion.  This  better  security  implies  a 
federal  council  of  a  few  powerful  states,  the  re- 
duction of  national  armaments,  and  the  creation 
of  a  federal  force  competent  to  impose  peace. 

A  precious  lesson  of  the  war  will  be — towards 
every  kind  of  national  efficiency  discipline  is 
good,  and  cooperation  is  good ;  but  for  the 
highest  efficiency  both  should  be  consented  to 
in  liberty. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

LESSONS   OF   THE   WAR   TO    MARCH   NINTH 

THE  observant  world  has  now  had  ample 
opportunity  to  establish  certain  conclusions 
about  the  new  kind  of  war,  and  its  availability 
as  means  of  adjusting  satisfactorily  interna- 
tional relations ;  and  it  seems  desirable  in  the 
interest  of  durable  peace  in  Europe  that  those 
conclusions  should  be  accurately  stated,  and 
kept  in  public  view. 

In  the  first  place,  the  destructiveness  of  war 
waged  on  the  scale  and  with  the  intensity  which 
conscript  armies,  the  new  means  of  transporta- 
tion and  communication,  the  new  artillery,  the 
aeroplanes,  the  high  explosives,  and  the  con- 
tinuity of  the  fighting  on  battle  fronts  of  un- 
exampled length,  by  night  as  well  as  by  day, 
and  in  stormy  and  wintry  as  well  as  moderate 
weather,  make  possible,  has  proved  to  be  be- 
yond all  power  of  computation,  and  could  not 
have  been  imagined  in  advance.  Never  before 
has  there  been  any  approach  to  the  vast  kill- 
ing and  crippling  of  men,  the  destruction  of  all 


LESSONS  OF  THE  WAR  TO  MARCH  NINTH     207 

sorts  of  man's  structures,  — buildings,  bridges, 
viaducts,  vessels,  and  docks,  —  and  the  physi- 
cal ruin  of  countless  women  and  children.  On 
the  seas  vessels  and  cargoes  are  sunk,  instead 
of  being  carried  into  port  as  formerly. 

Through  the  ravaging  of  immense  areas  of 
crop-producing  lands,  the  driving  away  of  the 
people  that  lived  on  them,  and  the  dislocation 
of  commerce,  the  food  supplies  for  millions  of 
non-combatants  are  so  reduced  that  the  rising 
generation  in  several  countries  is  impaired 
on  a  scale  never  approached  in  any  previous 
war. 

In  any  country  which  becomes  the  seat  of 
war  an  immense  destruction  of  fixed  capital  is 
wrought ;  and  at  the  same  time  the  quick  capi- 
tal of  all  the  combatants,  accumulated  during 
generations,  is  thrown  into  the  furnace  of  war 
and  consumed  unproductively. 

In  consequence  of  the  enormous  size  of  the 
national  armies  and  the  withdrawal  of  the  able- 
bodied  men  from  productive  industries,  the  in- 
dustries and  commerce  of  the  whole  world  are 
seriously  interrupted,  whence  widespread,  in- 
calculable losses  to  mankind. 

These  few  months  of  war  have  emphasized 
the  interdependence  of  nations  the  world  over 


208  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

with  a  stress  never  before  equalled.  Neutral 
nations  far  removed  from  Europe  have  felt 
keenly  the  effects  of  the  war  on  the  industries 
and  trades  by  which  they  live.  Men  see  in  this 
instance  that  whatever  reduces  the  buying  and 
consuming  capacity  of  one  nation  will  probably 
reduce  also  the  producing  and  selling  capacity 
of  other  nations ;  and  that  the  gains  of  com- 
merce and  trade  are  normally  mutual,  and  not 
one-sided. 

All  the  contending  nations  have  issued  huge 
loans  which  will  impose  heavy  burdens  on  fu- 
ture generations ;  and  the  yield  of  the  first  loans 
has  already  been  spent  or  pledged.  The  first 
loan  issued  by  the  British  Government  was 
nearly  twice  the  national  debt  of  the  United 
States ;  and  it  is  supposed  that  its  proceeds  will 
be  all  spent  before  next  summer.  Germany  has 
already  spent  $1,600,000,000  since  the  war 
broke  out  —  all  unproductively  and  most  of  it 
for  destruction.  She  is  now  issuing  her  second 
great  loan.  In  short,  the  waste  and  ruin  have 
been  without  precedent,  the  destruction  of 
wealth  has  been  enormous,  and  the  resulting 
dislocations  of  finance,  industries,  and  com- 
merce will  long  afflict  the  coming  generations 
in  all  the  belligerent  nations. 


LESSORS  OF  THE  WAR  TO  MARCH  NINTH     209 

All  the  belligerent  nations  have  already  dem- 
onstrated that  neither  urban  lif e,  nor  the  factory 
system,  nor  yet  corroding  luxury  has  caused  in 
them  any  physical  or  moral  deterioration  which 
interferes  with  their  fighting  capacity.  The 
soldiers  of  these  civilized  peoples  are  just  as 
ready  for  hand-to-hand  encounters  with  cold 
steel  as  any  barbarians  or  savages  have  ever  been. 
The  primitive  combative  instincts  remain  in  full 
force  and  can  be  brought  into  play  by  all  the 
belligerents  with  facility.  The  progress  of  the 
war  should  have  removed  any  delusions  on  this 
subject  which  Germany,  Austria-Hungary,  or 
any  one  of  the  Allies  may  have  entertained. 
The  Belgians,  a  well-to-do  town  people,  and  the 
Serbians,  a  poor  rural  population,  best  illustrate 
this  continuity  of  the  martial  qualities  ;  for  the 
Belgians  faced  overwhelming  odds,  and  the 
Serbians  have  twice  driven  back  large  Austrian 
forces,  although  they  have  a  transport  by  oxen 
only,  an  elementary  commissariat,  no  medical  or 
surgical  supplies  to  speak  of,  and  scanty  mu- 
nitions of  war.  On  the  other  hand,  the  principal 
combatants  have  proved  that  with  money  enough 
they  can  all  use  effectively  the  new  methods  of 
war  administration  and  the  new  implements  for 
destruction.  These  facts  suggest  that  the  war 


210  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

might  be  much  prolonged  without  yielding  any 
results  more  decisive  than  those  it  has  already 
yielded  ;  indeed,  that  its  most  probable  outcome 
is  a  stalemate  —  unless  new  combatants  enter 
the  field. 

Fear  of  Russian  invasion  seemed  at  first  to 
prompt  Germany  to  war ;  but  now  Germany  has 
amply  demonstrated  that  she  has  no  reason  to 
look  with  any  keen  apprehension  on  possible 
Russian  aggression  upon  her  territory,  and  that 
her  military  organization  is  adequate  for  defense 
against  any  attack  from  any  quarter.  The  mili- 
tary experience  of  the  last  seven  months  proves 
that  the  defense,  by  the  temporary  intrenchment 
method,  has  a  great  advantage  over  the  attack ; 
so  that  in  future  wars  the  aggressor  will  always 
be  liable  to  find  himself  at  a  serious  disad- 
vantage, even  if  his  victim  is  imperfectly  pre- 
pared. 

These  same  pregnant  months  have  also  proved 
that  armies  can  be  assembled  and  put  into  the 
field  in  effective  condition  in  a  much  shorter 
time  than  has  heretofore  been  supposed  to  be 
possible ;  provided  there  be  plenty  of  money  to 
meet  the  cost  of  equipment,  transportation,  and 
supplies.  Hence,  the  advantages  of  maintaining 
huge  active  armies,  ready  for  instant  attack  or 


LESSONS  OF  THE  WAR   TO  MARCH  NINTH     211 

defense,  will  hereafter  be  less  considerable  than 
they  have  been  supposed  to  be  —  if  the  decla- 
ration of  war  by  surprise,  as  in  August  last,  can 
hereafter  be  prevented.  These  considerations, 
taken  in  connection  with  the  probable  inefficacy 
against  modern  artillery  of  elaborate  fortifica- 
tions, suggest  the  possibility  of  a  reduction 
throughout  Europe  of  the  peace-footing  armies. 
It  is  conceivable  that  the  Swiss  militia  system 
should  satisfy  the  future  needs  of  most  of  the 
European  States. 

Another  important  result  has  been  achieved 
in  these  seven  months  of  colossal  war.  It  has 
been  demonstrated  that  no  single  nation  in  any 
part  of  the  world  can  dominate  the  other  nations, 
or,  indeed,  any  other  nation,  unless  the  other 
principal  powers  consent  to  that  domination  ; 
and,  in  the  present  state  of  the  world,  it  is  quite 
clear  that  no  such  domination  will  be  consented 
to.  As  soon  as  this  proposition  is  accepted  by 
all  the  combatants,  this  war,  and  perhaps  all  war 
between  civilized  nations,  will  cease.  It  is  ob- 
vious that  in  the  interest  of  mankind  the  war 
ought  not  to  cease  until  Germany  is  convinced 
that  her  ambition  for  empire  in  Europe  and  the 
world  cannot  be  gratified.  Deutschland  ueber 
alles  can  survive  as  a  shout  of  patriotic  enthu- 


212  THE  EOAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

siasm,  or  as  an  expression  of  an  ardent  desire  for 
German  unity ;  but  as  a  maxim  of  international 
policy  it  is  dead  already,  and  should  be  buried 
out  of  the  sight  and  memory  of  men. 

It  has,  moreover,  become  plain  that  the  prog- 
ress in  civilization  of  the  white  race  is  to  de- 
pend not  on  the  supreme  power  of  any  one 
nation,  forcing  its  peculiar  civilization  on  other 
nations,  but  on  the  peaceful  development  of 
many  different  nationalities,  each  making  con- 
tributions of  its  own  to  the  progress  of  the 
whole,  and  each  developing  a  social,  industrial, 
and  governmental  order  of  its  own,  suited  to 
its  territory,  traditions,  resources,  and  natural 
capacities. 

The  chronic  irritations  in  Europe,  which  con- 
tributed to  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  and  the 
war  itself  have  emphasized  the  value  and  the 
toughness  of  natural  national  units,  both  large 
and  small,  and  the  inexpediency  of  artificially 
dividing  such  units,  or  of  forcing  natural  units 
into  unnatural  associations.  These  principles 
are  now  firmly  established  in  the  public  opin- 
ion of  Europe  and  America.  No  matter  how 
much  longer  the  present  war  may  last,  no  set- 
tlement will  afford  any  prospect  of  lasting  peace 
in  Europe  which  does  not  take  just  account  of 


LESSONS  OF  THE  WAR  TO  MARCH  NINTH     213 

these  principles.  Already  the  war  has  demon- 
strated that  just  consideration  of  national  feel- 
ings, racial  kinship,  and  common  commercial 
interests  would  lead  to  three  fresh  groupings 
in  Europe :  one  of  the  Scandinavian  countries, 
one  of  the  three  sections  into  which  Poland  has 
been  divided,  and  one  of  the  Balkan  States 
which  have  a  strong  sense  of  Slavic  kinship. 
In  the  case  of  Scandinavia  and  the  Balkan 
States  the  bond  might  be  nothing  more  than  a 
common  tariff  with  common  ports  and  harbor 
regulations ;  but  Poland  needs  to  be  recon- 
structed as  a  separate  kingdom.  Thoroughly 
to  remove  political  sores  which  have  been  run- 
ning for  more  than  forty  years,  the  people  of 
Schleswig-Holstein  and  Alsace-Lorraine  should 
also  be  allowed  to  determine  by  free  vote  their 
national  allegiance.  Whether  the  war  ends  in 
victory  for  the  Allies,  or  in  a  draw  or  deadlock 
with  neither  party  victorious  and  neither  hu- 
miliated, these  new  national  adjustments  will 
be  necessary  to  permanent  peace  in  Europe. 
All  the  wars  in  Europe  since  1864  unite  in  dem- 
onstrating that  necessity. 

Again,  the  war  has  already  demonstrated 
that  colonies  or  colonial  possessions  in  remote 
parts  of  the  world  are  not  a  source  of  strength 


THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

to  a  European  nation  when  at  war,  unless  that 
nation  is  strong  on  the  seas.  Affiliated  com- 
monwealths may  be  a  support  to  the  mother 
country,  but  colonies  held  by  force  in  exclusive 
possession  are  not.  Great  Britain  learned  much 
in  1775  about  the  management  of  colonies,  and 
again  she  learned  in  India  that  the  policy  of 
exploitation,  long  pursued  by  the  East  India 
Company,  had  become  undesirable  from  every 
point  of  view.  As  the  strongest  naval  power  in 
the  world,  Great  Britain  has  given  an  admira- 
ble example  of  the  right  use  of  power  in  mak- 
ing the  seas  and  harbors  of  the  world  free  to 
the  mercantile  marine  of  all  the  nations  with 
which  she  competes.  Her  free-trade  policy 
helped  her  to  wise  action  on  the  subject  of 
commercial  extension.  Nevertheless,  the  other 
commercial  nations,  watching  the  tremendous 
power  in  war  which  Great  Britain  possesses 
through  her  wide,  though  not  complete,  con- 
trol of  the  oceans,  will  rejoice  when  British 
control,  though  limited  and  wisely  used,  is  re- 
placed by  an  unlimited  international  control. 
This  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  lessons  of  the 
great  war. 

Another   conviction    is   strongly   impressed 
upon  the  commercial  nations  of  the  world  by 


LESSONS  OF  THE  WAR  TO  MARCH  NINTH     215 

the  developments  of  seven  months  of  extensive 
fighting  by  land  and  sea,  namely,  the  impor- 
tance of  making  free  to  all  nations  the  Kiel 
Canal  and  the  passage  from  the  Black  Sea  to 
the  ^Egean.  So  long  as  one  nation  holds  the 
Dardanelles  and  the  Bosporus,  and  another  na- 
tion holds  the  short  route  from  the  Baltic  to 
the  North  Sea,  there  will  be  dangerous  restric- 
tions on  the  commerce  of  the  world  —  danger- 
ous in  the  sense  of  provoking  to  war,  or  of 
causing  sores  which  develop  into  malignant  dis- 
ease. Those  two  channels  should  be  used  for 
the  common  benefit  of  mankind,  just  as  the 
Panama  Canal  or  the  Suez  Canal  is  intended  to 
be.  Free  seas,  free  interocean  canals  and  straits, 
the  "open  door,"  and  free  competition  in 
international  trade  are  needed  securities  for 
peace. 

These  lessons  of  the  war  are  as  plain  now 
as  they  will  be  after  six  months'  or  six  years' 
more  fighting.  Can  the  belligerent  nations  — 
and  particularly  Germany — take  them  to  heart 
now,  or  must  more  millions  of  men  be  slaugh- 
tered and  more  billions  of  human  savings  be 
consumed  before  these  teachings  of  seven  fear- 
ful months  can  get  accepted? 

For  a  great  attainable  object  such  dreadful 


216  THE  ROAD  TOWARD  PEACE 

losses  and  sufferings  as  continuation  of  the  war 
entails  might,  perhaps,  be  borne ;  but  the  last 
seven  months  have  proved  that  the  objects  with 
which  Austria-Hungary  and  Germany  went  to 
war  are  unattainable  in  the  present  state  of 
Europe.  Austria-Hungary,  even  with  the  active 
aid  of  Germany  and  Turkey,  cannot  prevail  in 
Serbia  against  the  active  or  passive  resistance 
of  Serbia,  Russia,  Rumania,  Greece,  Italy, 
France,  and  Great  Britain.  Germany  cannot 
crush  France  supported  by  Great  Britain  and 
Russia,  or  keep  Belgium,  except  as  a  subject 
and  hostile  province,  and  in  defiance  of  the 
public  opinion  of  the  civilized  world.  In  seven 
months  Great  Britain  and  France  have  made 
up  for  their  lack  of  preparedness,  and  have 
brought  the  military  operations  of  Germany  in 
France  to  a  standstill.  On  the  other  hand, 
Great  Britain  and  France  must  already  realize 
that  they  cannot  drive  the  German  armies  out 
of  France  and  Belgium  without  a  sacrifice  of 
blood  and  treasure  from  which  the  stoutest 
hearts  may  well  shrink. 

Has  not  the  war  already  demonstrated  that 
jealous  and  hostile  coalitions  armed  to  the  teeth 
will  surely  bring  on  Europe  not  peace  and  ad- 
vancing civilization,  but  savage  war  and  an  ar- 


LESSONS  OF  THE  WAR  TO  MARCH  NINTH     217 

rest  of  civilization  ?  Has  it  not  already  proved 
that  Europe  needs  one  comprehensive  union  or 
federation  competent  to  procure  and  keep  for 
Europe  peace  through  justice  ?  There  is  no  al- 
ternative except  more  war. 


THE 


APPENDIX 


APPENDIX 


PRESIDENT  ELIOT'S  ADDRESS  AT  THE  SPECIAL 
ACADEMIC  SESSION  CALLED  TO  CONFER  THE 
DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR  OF  LAWS  ON  PRINCE 
HENRY  OF  PRUSSIA,  MARCH  6,  19021 

AFTER  a  short  greeting,  the  Prince  was  escorted 
into  Sanders  Theatre.  At  his  entrance  the  audience 
rose  and  remained  standing  until  he  had  taken  his 
seat  on  the  platform  at  the  right  of  President  Eliot. 
On  the  platform  were  seated  the  Governing  Boards, 
the  members  of  the  Faculties,  the  invited  guests,  and 
the  Prince's  suite.  President  Eliot,  sitting  in  the  an- 
cient President's  chair,  read  the  following  address, 
at  the  close  of  which  he  conferred  upon  the  Prince 
the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws :  — 

"  This  occasion  is  unique.  Twice  in  the  history  of 
the  University  has  a  special  academic  session  been 
held  to  do  honor  to  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  making  a  progress  through  the  country ;  but 
never  before  has  this  democratic  University  been 
called  together  on  purpose  to  do  honor  to  a  foreign 
prince.  Weighty  reasons  must  have  determined  such 
unprecedented  action  on  the  part  of  this  Society  of 
Scholars. 

1  From  the  Harvard  Graduates'  Magazine,  June,  1902. 


222  APPENDIX 

"  These  are  the  reasons :  — 

"Our  students  of  history  know  the  Teutonic 
sources,  in  the  dim  past,  of  many  institutions  and 
public  customs  which  have  been  transmitted  through 
England  to  this  New  England. 

"  The  Puritan  origin  of  the  University  makes  us 
hold  in  grateful  remembrance  the  heroes  of  Protes- 
tantism— Luther,  Melancthon,  Erasmus,  and  their 
kindred  spirits  —  and  the  German  princes  who  up- 
held that  precious  cause  through  long  years  of  con- 
fused alarms  and  cruel  warfare.  The  Puritan  gov- 
ernment of  Massachusetts  followed  anxiously  the 
vicissitudes  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  and  was  in 
the  habit  of  ordering  Public  Thanksgiving  to  God 
for  '  good  news  from  Germany.' 

"  In  watching  the  social  and  ethnological  phenom- 
ena of  our  own  times  we  have  seen  that  the  largest 
contribution  which  a  European  people  made  in  the 
nineteenth  century  to  the  population  pf  the  United 
States  came  from  Germany,  and  that  the  German 
quota  was  not  only  the  most  numerous  but  the  best 
educated. 

"  As  University  men  we  feel  the  immense  weight 
of  obligation  under  which  America  rests  to  the  tech- 
nical schools  and  universities  of  the  German  Father- 
land. From  them  thousands  of  eager  American  stu- 
dents have  drawn  instruction  and  inspiration,  and 
taken  example.  At  this  moment  hundreds  of  Amer- 
ican teachers  who  call  some  German  university  their 
foster-mother  are  at  work  in  schools,  colleges.,  and 


APPENDIX  223 

universities  all  the  way  from  this  icy  seacoast  to  the 
hot  Philippines. 

"  Our  men  of  letters  and  science  know  well  the 
unparalleled  contributions  Germany  has  made  since 
the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  to  pure  knowl- 
edge, and  also  to  science  applied  in  the  new  arts 
and  industries  which  within  fifty  years  have  so 
marvellously  changed  the  relations  of  man  to 
nature. 

"  Our  whole  people  have  the  profoundest  sympa- 
thy with  the  unification  of  Germany.  We  all  believe 
in  a  great  union  of  federated  states,  bound  together 
by  a  common  language,  by  unrestricted  mutual  trade, 
by  common  currency,  mails,  means  of  communica- 
tion, courts  of  justice,  and  institutions  of  credit  and 
finance,  and  inspired  by  a  passionate  patriotism. 
Such  is  the  venerable  American  Union ;  such  the 
young  German  Empire. 

"  We  gladly  welcome  here  to-day  a  worthy  repre- 
sentative of  German  greatness,  worthy  in  station, 
profession,  and  character.  We  see  in  him,  however, 
something  more  than  the  representative  of  a  superb 
nationality  and  an  imperial  ruler.  Universities  have 
long  memories.  Forty  years  ago  the  American  Union 
was  in  deadly  peril,  and  thousands  of  its  young  men 
were  bleeding  and  dying  for  it.  It  is  credibly  re- 
ported that  at  a  very  critical  moment  the  Queen  of 
England  said  to  her  Prime  Minister:  'My  Lord, 
you  must  understand  that  I  shall  sign  no  paper 
which  means  war  with  the  United  States.'  The 


224  APPENDIX 

grandson  of  that  illustrious  woman  is  sitting  with 
us  here." 

Here  President  Eliot  rose,  bowed  to  the  President 
and  Fellows,  and  to  the  Board  of  Overseers,  and  re- 
mained standing. 

Prince  Henry  rose  when  his  name  was  pronounced. 

"Now,  therefore,  in  exercise  of  authority  given 
me  by  the  President  and  Fellows  and  the  Board 
of  Overseers,  and  in  the  favoring  presence  of  the 
friends  here  assembled,  I  create  honorary  Doctor 
of  Laws  Albert  William  Henry,  Prince  of  Prussia, 
and !  Admiral,  and  in  the  name  of  this  Society 
of  Scholars,  I  declare  that  he  is  entitled  to  the 
rights  and  privileges  pertaining  to  this  degree,  and 
that  his  name  is  to  be  forever  borne  on  its  roll  of 
honorary  members." 


II 

PRESIDENT  ELIOT'S  ADDRESS  AT  A  BANQUET 
GIVEN  MARCH  6,  1902,  BY  THE  CITY  OF  BOS- 
TON TO  PRINCE  HENRY  OF  PRUSSIA 

MR.  MAYOR,  YOUR  ROYAL  HIGHNESS,  YOUR  EX- 
CELLENCY : *  — 

The  nation's  guests  —  Boston's  this  evening  — 
have  just  had  some  momentary  glimpses  of  the  ex- 
temporized American  cities,  of  the  prairies  and  the 
Alleghanies,  of  some  great  rivers  and  lakes,  and  of 
prodigious  Niagara ;  and  so  they  have  perhaps  some 
vision  of  the  large  scale  of  our  country,  although 
they  have  run  over  not  more  than  one  thirtieth  of 
its  area.  But  now  they  have  come  to  little  Massa- 
chusetts, lying  on  the  extreme  eastern  seacoast  —  by 
comparison  a  minute  commonwealth,  with  a  rough 
climate  and  a  poor  soil.  It  has  no  grand  scenery  to 
exhibit,  no  stately  castles,  churches,  or  palaces  come 
down  through  centuries,  such  as  Europe  offers,  and 
for  at  least  two  generations  it  has  been  quite  unable 
to  compete  with  the  fertile  fields  of  the  West  in  pro- 
ducing its  own  food  supplies.  What  has  Massachu- 
setts to  show  them,  or  any  intelligent  European 
visitors?  Only  the  fruitage — social,  industrial,  and 

1  The  Governor. 


226  APPENDIX 

governmental  —  of  the  oldest  and  most  prosperous 
democracy  in  the  world. 

For  two  hundred  and  eighty  years  this  little  Com- 
monwealth has  been  developing  in  freedom,  with  no 
class  legislation,  feudal  system,  dominant  church,  or 
standing  army  to  hinder  or  restrain  it.  The  period 
of  development  has  been  long  enough  to  show  what 
the  issues  of  democracy  are  likely  to  be ;  and  it 
must  be  interesting  for  cultivated  men  brought  up 
under  another  regime  to  observe  that  human  nature 
turns  out  to  be  much  the  same  thing  under  a  demo- 
cratic form  of  government  as  under  the  earlier  forms, 
and  that  the  fundamental  motives  and  objects  of 
mankind  remain  almost  unchanged  amid  external 
conditions  somewhat  novel.  Democracy  has  not  dis- 
covered or  created  a  new  human  nature ;  it  has  only 
modified  a  little  the  familiar  article.  The  domestic 
affections,  and  loyalty  to  tribe,  clan,  race,  or  nation 
still  rule  mankind.  The  family  motive  remains  su- 
preme. 

It  is  an  accepted  fact  that  the  character  of  each 
civilized  nationality  is  well  exhibited  in  its  univer- 
sities. Now  Harvard  University  has  been  largely 
governed  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  by  a  body 
of  seven  men  called  the  Corporation.  Every  member 
of  that  Corporation  which  received  your  royal  high- 
ness this  afternoon  at  Cambridge  is  descended  from 
a  family  stock  which  has  been  serviceable  in  Massa- 
chusetts for  at  least  seven  generations.  More  than 
one  hundred  years  ago  Washington  was  asked  to 


APPENDIX  227 

describe  all  the  high  officers  in  the  American  army 
of  that  day  who  might  be  thought  of  for  the  chief 
command.  He  gave  his  highest  praise  to  Major- 
General  Lincoln  of  Massachusetts,  saying  of  him 
that  he  was  "sensible,  brave,  and  honest."  There 
are  Massachusetts  Lincolns  to-day  to  whom  these 
words  exactly  apply. 

The  democracy  preserves  and  uses  sound  old  fami- 
lies ;  it  also  utilizes  strong  blood  from  foreign  sources. 
Thus,  in  the  second  governing  board  of  Harvard  Uni- 
versity, —  the  Overseers,  —  a  French  Bonaparte,  a 
member  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  sits  beside 
a  Scotch  farmer's  son,  Presbyterian  by  birth  and 
education,  now  become  the  leader  in  every  sense  of 
the  most  famous  Puritan  church  in  Boston.  The 
democracy  also  promotes  human  beings  of  remark- 
able natural  gifts  who  appear  as  sudden  outbursts 
of  personal  power,  without  prediction  or  announce- 
ment through  family  merit.  It  is  the  social  mobility 
of  a  democracy  which  enables  it  to  give  immediate 
place  to  personal  merit,  whether  inherited  or  not, 
and  also  silently  to  drop  unserviceable  descendants 
of  earlier  meritorious  generations. 

Democracy,  then,  is  only  a  further  unfolding  of 
the  multitudinous  human  nature,  which  is  essentially 
stable.  It  does  not  mean  the  abolition  of  leadership, 
or  an  averaged  population,  or  a  dead-level  of  society. 
Like  monarchical  and  aristocratic  forms  of  govern- 
ment, it  means  a  potent  influence  for  those  who 
prove  capable  of  exerting  it,  and  a  highly  diversified 


228  APPENDIX 

society  on  many  shifting  levels,  determined  in  lib- 
erty, and  perpetually  exchanging  members  up  and 
down.  It  means  sensuous  luxury  for  those  who  want 
it,  and  can  afford  to  pay  for  it ;  and  for  the  wise  rich 
it  provides  the  fine  luxury  of  promoting  public  ob- 
jects by  well-considered  giving. 

Since  all  the  world  seems  tending  toward  this 
somewhat  formidable  democracy,  it  is  encouraging 
to  see  what  the  result  of  two  hundred  and  eighty 
years  of  democratic  experience  has  been  in  this 
peaceful  and  prosperous  Massachusetts.  Democracy 
has  proved  here  to  be  a  safe  social  order  —  safe  for 
the  property  of  individuals,  safe  for  the  finer  arts  of 
living,  safe  for  diffused  public  happiness  and  well- 
being. 

We  remember  gratefully  in  this  presence  that  a 
strong  root  of  Massachusetts  liberty  and  prosperity 
was  the  German  Protestantism  of  four  centuries  ago, 
and  that  another  and  fresher  root  of  well-being  for 
every  manufacturing  people,  like  the  people  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, has  been  German  applied  science  during 
the  past  fifty  years.  We  hope,  as  Your  Royal  High- 
ness goes  homeward-bound  across  the  restless  Atlan- 
tic, —  type  of  the  rough  "  sea  of  storm-engendering 
liberty,"  —  you  may  cherish  a  cheerful  remembrance 
of  barren  but  rich,  strenuous  but  peaceful,  free  but 
self-controlled,  Massachusetts. 


CAMBRIDGE  .  MASSACHUSETTS 
U  .  S  .  A 


347^5 


DATE  DUE 


UGI 
MAY 


MAY    1  t 


&70 


AR  1 2  71 


19H 


573 


RECD 


2  2  1973 


PRINTEOINU.S.A. 


A     000683143     2 


